


I've Got Your Back

by ASchwartz33



Category: Naruto
Genre: Anbu Hatake Kakashi, Anbu Yamato | Tenzou, BAMF Tsunade (Naruto), Baby Uzumaki Naruto, Dogteeth Hatake Kakashi, Family Fluff, Friendship/Love, Kid Hatake Kakashi, M/M, Namikaze Minato Lives, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Uzumaki Kushina Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-03 18:58:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 44,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20457887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ASchwartz33/pseuds/ASchwartz33
Summary: After Kakashi's father dies, Minato and Kushina adopt him and become his family. Then, Kakashi meets a random stranger with a surprising jutsu out in the forest. The story of Kakashi and Tenzo's friendship and eventually love. Non-canon definitely. I have fiddled with the Naruto universe beyond belief.This story was written purely because I believe Tenzo and Kakashi deserve a happy life and a family.





	1. The Sandwich

Kakashi stepped out of his front door into the cool afternoon sun. The house he lived in, owned by his adoptive parents, was larger than average, with yellow siding and white trim. He had lived here for almost 3 years now, with Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki legally adopting him shortly after his father's passing. 

He tried not to think about that though, as his new life with his new family was more than enough to keep him feeling loved. A few months ago, he even was added onto Minato's team of genin. The hardest part of all of it was learning to address his new father as Sensei instead of simply calling him by his first name. 

Today, Kakashi was going to train. Since he was training by himself, he didn't feel any need to wear armor, so he wore a simple black shirt with some black pants. His mask, as per usual, was attached to the top of his shirt. 

Kakashi was grateful for Minato and Kushina. They had to make a number of changes for him when he first moved in, and he wasn't exactly the best child. Being only 9 at the time, he just didn't understand why he couldn't continue living on his own in the Hatake compound. The first time Kushina washed his clothes, Kakashi was sick for days. He fixed his mask in its usual position and at his first inhale his stomach was trying to expel everything in it. Kushina had used a very strong lavender detergent, and Kakashi's strong sense of smell couldn't handle it. Eventually, all the strong flower or fruit scented candles, teas, and chemicals were out of the house. Replaced with calmer scents like vanilla or honey. 

Another thing the new parents didn't know they had signed up for was the dogs. Kakashi had his eight dog summons and enjoyed treating them like family. They adapted once again, and had treats and food bags stashed away in many places. 

They were the loving parents Kakashi never knew he needed, and they loved him dearly. He wasn't sure how, seeing as he had been such a little asshole when he first got there. They had to deal with everything from shuriken traps, arguments, and broken possessions, to him simply running away. Four times Minato had to chase him through the streets of Konoha when he had been missing for too long after an argument. He would corner Kakashi eventually and pull the young boy into a hug. Affection and stability was all Kakashi really needed… he just didn't know it until he had already put Kushina and Minato through four months of misery. 

The night was full of Kakashi yelling and screaming at the young couple. He told them they were terrible people. He threw kunai, laid traps, and smashed vases in his fit before running out the door. When he hadn't come home long after dinner, Minato went searching. 

The young silver-haired ninja had been hiding out in his family compound. He had been hiding away in his father's room, crying on the floor. Kakashi didn't feel the older man's presence until he was only a couple feet away from him.

Minato spoke quietly. "Kakashi… are you okay?" 

"WHAT DO YOU EVEN CARE?" Kakashi screamed at him through tears. He buried his face down into his arms and sobbed.

Minato moved closer and sat on the floor beside him. "Kushina and I care about you Kakashi. You are very special to us both."

Kakashi didn't speak for a few moments. In between sobs, his trembling voice was barely above a whisper. "Why do you keep coming after me? Why don't you go have a REAL family?"

Minato let out a small sigh. He was barely holding back tears of his own. His heart was breaking for this poor hurting child. He would give Kakashi up for good if it meant the boy could go back to his father. It just wasn't possible. 

Almost a year ago, Sakumo Hatake had killed himself. It was an act Minato could understand… if he hadn't left poor Kakashi to fend for himself. 

The eight year old boy had been left on his own for seven months before Kushina finally got approval for the adoption. By then, Kakashi had already closed off. He didn't want family or friends. He just wanted his father back. 

Minato took another deep breath and ran his hands through his unruly blonde hair. He moved himself over towards the boy until their legs were touching. "We may not be your real parents, but you will always be family to us. It doesn't matter how many shuriken I have to pull out of my shoulder. I'm always going to come looking for you. And when I find you, I'm always gonna bring you back home where Kushina will be waiting by the door watching for you. We love you, Kakashi. No amount of fighting and running away will ever change that."

That moment was when Kakashi knew he needed family. He looked up into Minato's bright blue eyes for a moment, trying to find the words to say to the man who just wouldn't give up on him. A weak "thank you" was all he could manage before bursting into sobs again. Minato put his arm around the boy's small shoulders and pulled him into his side. The child looked even smaller than usual as he curled up into a ball and cried some more. 

Back then, Kakashi was afraid. Now, he knew he always had Minato and Kushina to watch over him. As he stood on the porch reflecting, he inhaled through his mask to take in the wonderful scent of the outdoors, once again thankful for unscented detergent.

"Kakashi!" He heard from inside as Kushina opened the front door. He turned to look at the redheaded woman just in time to catch the brown paper sack thrown to him. 

"Sweetheart if you are gonna train you need to make sure to eat!" She said with a smile.

Kakashi smiled back, ever-thankful for this fiery woman who forced him to take care of himself. "Thank you Kushina!" He said with a wave as he set out to the training grounds. 

~

The sun had barely entered the morning sky when Kinoe left the foundation barracks. He was one of the few members of ROOT allowed to leave the premises without being on a mission. The other members refused to speak to him because of it, since they thought it was favoritism. The truth, however, was simply that Kinoe wasn't fully able to practice and perfect his jutsu unless he was in the forest. He had been with the foundation since he was four, and his boss, Danzo, trusted him completely. 

Kinoe was an exemplary member of the foundation. He was an excellent tracker, fighter, and spy. He could sense anyone. Not even Danzo could sneak up on him anymore. Kinoe also was the best at hiding his emotions. Danzo's only qualm with the boy was that even though he could hide his emotions so well, they were still there. The ideal soldier had no emotion what-so-ever. 

The young boy, now twelve years old, left the barracks wearing discreet clothing that wouldn't tie him to the foundation if he was seen. Black t-shirt, standard issue pants, and his happuri forehead protector. His mess of brown hair was cut short, though he had worn it longer in the past.

Kinoe took the back roads to the edge of the city and disappeared into the forest for training. 

~

Kakashi finally made it to his favorite training field. It was a grassy field with a few logs for shuriken training. He liked it best because it was mostly secluded. The small clearing was the farthest away from the hub of the city, and was partially surrounded by the forest. The air was fresh out here, and Kakashi enjoyed every second of it. If he took a deep breath, he could smell the sweet smell of wildflowers that were spread sporadically through the grass. Another breath, and he could smell his favorite scent by far; the wonderful pine trees mixed with the slightest hint of dirt. The air wasn't tainted here like it was in Konoha. His sensitive nose didn't pick up random bits of food, or the human that was eating it. Here, he wouldn't be cornered into talking to anybody. It was just him and the wildflowers.

Kakashi trained with his shuriken for a while, but if he was being honest with himself, he didn't need the practice. The main reason the silver-haired child came out here was to relax in peace and quiet. 

When he had his fill of training, Kakashi walked over to his favorite tree to lay down in the shade. The large maple tree had a sweeter scent than the average pine tree, but the shade it provided was the best. The young ninja sprawled out in the grass, his deep gray eyes watching the clouds pass by. 

It was here he would come to think about his life. His past, with his father, was a common starting point. But as the hours passed him by he would think about Minato and Kushina as well. In all honesty, he viewed Minato as a father to him. He even thought about calling him "Dad" several times, changing his mind last second. He loved them, and he wished he knew how to show it. 

Aside from them, he often found himself thinking about his new team. Team Minato. In his opinion, the two other people on his team were pretty lackluster. Rin was okay for a kunoichi, but her skills weren't anywhere up to par with Kakashi's. Obito was another story. He was always late, and didn't have any impressive skills. Plus even being a member of the Uchiha clan, he still hadn't managed to awaken his sharingan, and Kakashi doubted he ever would. Minato tried to make them get along, but it just wasn't something Kakashi was capable of doing. Rin and Minato both were constantly stepping in between the two of them, and Kakashi often was in trouble once he returned home. 

The young shinobi stared into the bright green underside of the tree. He hated disappointing Minato. The man meant more to him than anyone ever had in the past. He just couldn't think of a way to fix it.

In the distance, Kakashi heard a large thumping noise; like a tree falling. He quickly jumped up and scanned the tops of the trees for any clue to what he heard. 

After another minute or so, he saw it. Above the tops of the trees, a new tree grew taller than all the others. Kakashi stared, wide-eyed. What did he just see? What that even possible?

Pulling his chakra in close to conceal himself, he jumped down and walked into the forest.  
The trees were thick, and the young boy had to watch his steps very carefully to avoid tripping over any roots. Thumping noises echoed through the otherwise silent forest. If it hadn't been for Kakashi's excellent hearing, he may have gotten lost in the echoes.

After at least 20 minutes of slowly navigating towards the noise, Kakashi was coming up on a clearing. He slowed himself down, and watched as he crept forward.

The clearing was relatively small. Surrounding it were all sorts of large flowering plants he had never seen before. All of them were gorgeous, though some looked extremely poisonous. On the left side of the clearing was a boy. Kakashi stared at the small person who had to be around the same age as him. Even though the kid's back was turned, He was sure it wasn't anybody he would recognize. Could he really be the one causing all this racket?

The boy was small, much like Kakashi. He was even dressed somewhat similar. But where Kakashi had his leaf headband across his forehead, this kid was wearing a happuri. He wasn't moving. The kid seemed worn out, and was taking deep breaths. 

Suddenly, the strange child threw his hands together for a jutsu and a large pine tree shot out of the ground.

Kakashi's jaw dropped as he looked on, his eyes as big as saucers. He had never seen anything like that in his life. He hadn't even known that to be possible. As far as he knew, the first Hokage was the only one in history to EVER be able to grow trees and control wood.

Kakashi continued to gaze slack-jawed into the clearing as the boy put his arms down for a breather once more.

"I know you're there. You can't hide your chakra from me. You can come out." The stranger's small voice reached out to him hidden in the trees.

Kakashi practically jumped at the intruding sound, but came to his senses and crouched down. He must've been talking to somebody else, he thought as he glanced around.

When his eyes moved back to the front, he was shocked to find the child staring back at him, even through all the trees.

With a sigh, Kakashi stood up and walked into the clearing. It was, after all, just some kid. What did he have to worry about? 

The strange kid had no expression at all on his face when he walked up. It was oddly unsettling. 

"What's your name?" The stranger spoke like it was an interrogation. 

"Kakashi Hatake. What's yours?" He replied nonchalantly, with his posture relaxed and hands in his pockets. 

"Why are you here?" The boy asked, ignoring Kakashi's question entirely.

Kakashi wrinkled his nose at the inherent rudeness of the kid, but relaxed his face again before answering, deciding to go with the truth. "I was training on the grounds back there and heard a bunch of noise, so I came to see what was happening." He replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Well now you know, so there isn't much reason to stick around." The kid replied, his face still showing Kakashi nothing. 

Kakashi chuckled. Somehow, he thought the kid was funny. He had a deep feeling in his chest, like he wanted to know this kid. He walked to one end of the clearing to a large flat rock, pulled his favorite book out of his back pocket, and sprawled out in the sun. "Don't mind me. I won't bother you." He replied before catching a confused look, however brief, on the strangers face. 

The kid was hesitant, Kakashi could tell. He inhaled deeply, trying to catch his scent. To his surprise, he couldn't smell anything other than the natural smell of the forest. Odd, he thought to himself, as he pretended to read his book. After a minute of silence, the kid turned back around. Kakashi expected another tree to sprout from the ground. Instead, a large pile of wildflowers grew from the green grass. 

That explains all these strange flowers, Kakashi thought as he moved to an upright position. He placed his book on the rock and pulled his lunch sack out of his small pack. 

The kid was watching him again. He could feel his gaze as he pulled a couple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches out of the small bag. He removed one from its bag and quickly took a bite under the bottom of his mask, before he looked up towards the stranger. The kid wasn't staring at him. He was staring at the sandwich. 

Kakashi laughed lightly and gave his best crinkle-eyed smile before holding out his second sandwich as an offering. A flash of surprise showed on the kid's face, and he looked down to the ground in thought. After a few seconds, he slowly walked up to Kakashi and grabbed the spare sandwich. The silver haired ninja scooted over and patted the empty space on the rock next to him, but the child backed up instead. He placed his small hand to the ground and produced a small wooden chair. Kakashi almost forgot to replace his mask as he gaped in shock, his eyes as wide as saucers. 

To reduce the risk of spooking the kid, Kakashi said nothing as the kid sat down and eyeballed the sandwich. He smelled it first, then pulled the bread apart to look inside. Satisfied nothing was wrong with it, he spoke. "What is this?" He said while holding up the sandwich.

"It's a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." Kakashi replied with a shrug. 

"Peanut butter and jelly?" The kid said, visibly confused as he stared down at the food in his hand.

Kakashi took a few quick bites as the kid looked down in his hands and watch as he finally decided to taste it. His first bite was excruciatingly slow, as if he either thought it was a trap or had never heard of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He entertained the thought that maybe the kid was homeless, but dismissed that thought quickly as it was clear the kid at least showered frequently. 

When the stranger was finally chewing the sandwich, Kakashi watched as a bright smile spread across his face. The smile was infectious, and he found himself returning a smile of his own.

"Kinoe. My name is Kinoe." The boy said with a smile.

"Kinoe, huh? That's an interesting name." Kakashi replied as he climbed down the rock, took a step forward and offered his hand for a handshake. Kinoe stared at his hand for a moment before reaching out and shaking it.

"Well Kinoe, I guess this means we're gonna be friends now." Kakashi spoke with a smile.

"Friends? I'm not allowed to have friends." The small brunette replied.

"That's nonsense. No one can tell you if someone is your friend or not. That's something you feel with your heart." Kakashi rebuked.

Kinoe looked down at his sandwich, clearly contemplating what Kakashi had said. 

"Okay." He nodded with another dazzling smile, "Friends."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have about 8 chapters written for this so far but have plans for many more. I hope to upload a new chapter every week. But maybe more often than that since I've written so far ahead.


	2. Meeting The Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kinoe meets Kakashi's family and the boys learn more about each other.

Shortly after they finished eating their sandwiches, Kakashi and Kinoe parted ways, promising to meet in the clearing again tomorrow. Kakashi walked home deep in thought, thinking about his new friend.

Who the hell isn't allowed to have friends? It doesn't make any sense. Shinobi were encouraged to have friends even. As far as Anbu goes, Kakashi knew of no rule against it. 

Something bothered him about how easy it was for Kinoe to hide his feelings. That would require some intense training. And for someone so young…

Kakashi searched his brain, and with a flash of realization it hit him. The foundation. Was Kinoe part of ROOT? Would he even tell Kakashi if he asked? There was only one way to find out. 

Kakashi arrived home to find his dogs waiting for him. Pakkun, a short pug, was the only one out of eight that could talk, and made sure Kakashi didn't forget it. "Hey boss. We've been waiting for you!" He called out as soon as the young ninja entered the front door. 

"Sorry guys. I got a little side tracked. I met a new friend today." Kakashi replied with a smile. All the dogs crowded around him, begging for attention. 

"You met someone new? AND your already calling them a friend? You sure you aren't hallucinating?" Pakkun shouted over the dog pile.

"Yeah. His name is Kinoe. He's really nice." Kakashi sat on the floor in a pile of fluff and thought for a few minutes. "Hey… Pakkun?"

"Yeah kid, what's up?"

"I couldn't smell him. Is that weird?" He asked his tiny companion.

"Hmm. That is weird. I've never heard of that happening, I'm not gonna lie." Pakkun replied. He looked around the pile to confirm with all the other dogs before shrugging his shoulders. "Not a clue, kid."

~

The next day, Kakashi asked for his lunch before heading off to the training grounds. This time, he was given turkey and cheese sandwiches to bring before sprinting out of the house. He received some weird looks from Kushina, but she didn't bother asking why he was so excited to go train. She knew that he would tell her when he was ready.

The small boy ran through the forest and out into the clearing, only to find it empty. "Hm. Guess he's not here yet." He spoke to himself before he climbed onto his new favorite rock, book in hand. 

Kakashi woke with a start, launching his book from where it had been resting across his face. He looked up to see Kinoe about a foot away. "Geez don't you know not to sneak up on a ninja?" He grumbled.

"Well… I did call your name four times. Maybe you shouldn't be sleeping out in the open." Kinoe said with a small smirk on his face.

Kakashi looked at him, amazed at the difference between the silent kid from yesterday and the one making fun of him today. He let out a small chuckle and reached into his bag, pulling out the sandwiches and handing one to Kinoe. 

"You sure you don't want this?" The brunette asked hesitantly.

"Of course not. I brought it for you!" Kakashi said with a laugh. There was something about this kid. He just… trusted him. Kakashi knew this kid was going to be a permanent fixture in his life, though he wasn't sure what was making him feel that way.

"Hey Kakashi? Don't you ever take your mask off?" The boy asked, staring at him with his brown, almond shaped eyes.

Kakashi ran a hand through his wild silver hair, and started rubbing the back of his neck. "Looks like we're already starting with the rough questions." He mumbled, mostly to himself. "I will make you a deal. You can ask me whatever questions you want, but for every one you ask me, I get to ask you one. Deal?"

Kinoe took a moment to think about it, looking down at his sandwich. He looked up with another remarkable smile and shouted "Okay!"

Kakashi took a deep breath. "No. I don't take off the mask."

"Why not?" Kinoe questioned.

"Nope! You already asked your question," he said with a smirk, "now it's my turn." 

Kinoe gave him a quick glare, but chuckled afterwards and took a bite of his sandwich. Kakashi reached up and put a hand on his covered chin, pretending to put deep thought into his question.

"So… how long have you been in the foundation?"

Kinoe's jaw dropped. Fear flashed across his face as he made a move to jump up. Kakashi reached over and grabbed his arm before he could make it away. "It's alright Kinoe, I won't tell anybody! I just wanna learn about you because you are my friend." He said with a reassuring smile.

Kinoe watched him for a few moments before slowly sitting back down again. He narrowed his eyes, clearly wondering how Kakashi had found him out so quickly. "I was placed in the foundation when I was four… why do you wear the mask?"

Kakashi flinched at the question, and Kinoe had seen it. Even with the horrible question lingering in the air, Kakashi took a moment to think about Kinoe's answer. What kind of parent sends their kid off to join the foundation at four years old? Is that even legal? He looked back to the other boy, knowing he was expected to answer his question if he expected any more answers himself. 

"Well… I actually got this mask from my dad when I was four. My mom had just died. He didn't say anything but i knew it was because I reminded him of her. And then…" he paused. Trying to decide if it was worth telling this random boy about his life. He looked into the big dark eyes next to him and felt a sort of comfort, so he decided to answer. "Then… my dad died. He couldn't handle living without my mom anymore. Then I wore the mask because anyone who saw my face told me how much I looked like my dad. That was the only thing I saw when I looked in the mirror after that, and I couldn't stand it." He took a couple deep breaths and stared down at his fidgeting hands, waiting for a reply. 

When there wasn't one, Kakashi looked over to Kinoe. The boy was staring down at his feet, thinking about what he had said. Kakashi waited for the dreaded sympathy chat, but it never came. Grateful, he took a moment to think about his next question. 

"How come your parents put you in the foundation so young? That doesn't seem very fair." He asked the silent boy. 

Kinoe looked back up to his new friend and answered quickly. "I don't have any parents. I don't remember much of my life before the foundation, but I know I had no family, and no name. I was given the name Kinoe upon entering the ROOT program and trained to be the way I am now." 

"Kinoe isn't your real name?" Kakashi asked while gazing up at the clouds. "Do you like that name?"

Kinoe shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn't really matter if I like it or not. It was the name assigned to me."

"Would you care if i called you something else? Is there another name you like?" Kakashi asked. He didn't want to call Kinoe by a name that represented the fact that he had no life, no childhood. He wanted to give him a real name. 

"Well, on one of my missions in the past, this girl I spent time with kept calling me Tenzo. I kinda liked it. I wouldn't mind if you called me that." Kinoe replied.

Honestly, Kakashi was shocked Kinoe even agreed to be called something else, let alone come up with a name on his own. "Okay. From now on, I'm gonna call you Tenzo." He declared with a smile. 

As the day went on, they stopped asking questions and started telling stories of past missions. To an extent, of course, as Tenzo was still part of the foundation, and couldn't reveal any specific details. When they finally decided to call it a day, Tenzo walked Kakashi to his house before turning to head down the road.

"Oi, Tenzo!" Kakashi called after hm. Tenzo turned and waited for him to speak. "You wanna come hang out here tomorrow? We can meet here at noon if you like." 

Kakashi was nervous. He had only ever had one other kid over at his house, and that was only a couple times. Something about it being his adopted family's house just made it so nerve wracking for him. It also didn't help that a person's room represented who they are as a person, and Kakashi was afraid of what people would see. After a few nail biting moments, Tenzo finally answered with a smile. "That sounds great! I will be here!" 

Kakashi smiled and turned back towards his house. 

~

Tenzo waited outside Kakashi's house. He had gotten there a few minutes early, but it was already ten minutes after noon, and he was starting to wonder what was keeping his new friend. 

A surge of chakra startled him out of his thoughts when he was suddenly faced with a tall blonde adult. The man looked almost as shocked as he must have been. 

"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you!" The blonde spoke loudly. By that point, Tenzo had already phased back into being Kinoe, and removed all emotion from his face. "Sorry sir, I will be going now." He replied before turning away from the porch.

"Wait, are you here for Kakashi? He is only a couple minutes behind me. I kept him later than normal during our team training today. Would you like to wait inside?" The older man asked.

Tenzo had not even considered that Kakashi lived with adults after hearing about his parents. Adoption was a foreign concept to him, though he supposed maybe he could relate it to how Danzo had taken him under his wing. "No thanks," he replied, "I can wait for him outside."

"Nonsense!" The man shouted as he pulled the boy enthusiastically through the front door. "Make yourself at home!"

As he made his way inside, Tenzo looked around. The house was a simple design really. The decorations simple as well. The light scent of vanilla hung in the air as he continued through the room. The walls were all white and very clean. Everything has its place, and somebody spent a lot of time keeping the house clean. Either that or all the people living here were just very orderly. 

"What's your name, young man?" The man asked with a smile. His happy attitude would have been infectious, if Tenzo hadn't received years of training to over ride that exact type of thing. "Kinoe, sir." He said with a short bow.

"Well, I am Minato Namikaze. Pleased to meet you Kinoe. Go ahead and have a seat wherever you like. Kakashi will be home shortly." The man spoke before walking down the hall to disappear into another room.

~

Kakashi could sense Tenzo's chakra inside as he walked up to his front door, and assumed Minato had already met him. If Kushina had been home, she would have already made a four course meal for the boy. Kakashi chuckled at the thought of Tenzo trying to refuse food from the crazy red-head as he walked through the door. 

He spotted his young friend standing awkwardly in the living room. As soon as he entered, Tenzo was smiling at him. Of course he probably sensed me walking up from a block away, Kakashi thought to himself. 

"Tenzo, let's go to my room." He called out, motioning for him to follow. When they reached the door to his room, Kakashi went in first and held the door open for him. He subtly took a deep breath when Tenzo walked by and he finally figured out the answer. He smelled amazing. It's no wonder he couldn't smell him while they were in the forest. The two smells were practically identical. 

Kakashi must have had a weird look on his face, because he looked over to see Tenzo staring at him, one eyebrow lifted up higher than the other. 

"What is it?" He asked.

"Oh… it's just that… you sort of smell good." He stammered out, embarrassed at being caught. His face started to get warm as a blush inevitably rose up his face, making him once again thankful for his mask barrier. 

"I smell good? I don't really smell anything. No one's ever told me that before." Tenzo spoke, a slight bit of confusion in his voice.

"Well, my sense of smell is much stronger than the average person. My hearing is better too. It's something to do with my family being connected to my summoning dogs I think." He answered.

"Oh. Well what do I smell like?" Tenzo said with a smirk, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Kakashi took a step closer and took a long, exaggerated sniff of the air surrounding Tenzo, effectively embarrassing the other into dropping the smirk. "Let's see… you sort of smell like the forest. I smell pine, along with sort of an earthy type smell… but there's something else too." He took another whiff and thought for a moment. "Walnut. There's a tiny bit of walnut in there too. It's a very nice smell." He ended his thought with a smile. "I was confused when I first met you. I always smell people when I'm around them. But I couldn't smell anything on you. Now I know why. I couldn't smell you over the natural smells of the forest!"

Tenzo sat silently for a moment with a blush creeping up on his face before he managed to get his embarrassment in check. "Thanks," he replied, "I wonder if I smell that way because of my jutsu."

"Well, I have noticed some people smell a little more towards what their normal jutsu is. There is a water user a few houses down who always smells like fresh downpour. And another guy I know, he's from the Uchiha clan and he uses fire style jutsu. He always smells kinda like a campfire." Kakashi mused aloud thoughtfully. 

"I never really thought about people's smells before…" the brunette replied, "What do YOU smell like?" Tenzo asked suddenly.

Kakashi was stumped by that question. He actually didn't know what his natural scent was. "I… I actually don't know. I can't smell my own scent like that I guess."

Tenzo looked down in thought for a few moments before looking up into Kakashi's face. He crossed the room with determination and stopped about a foot short of the taller ninja before shooting him a questioning look. Kakashi understood immediately and pulled the side of his mask a little farther down his neck before stretching the area out towards Tenzo. The other boy leaned in real close. So close, Kakashi could feel the breath on his neck, causing him to shiver slightly. Tenzo took a large breath and moved back to the other side of the room while the silver haired ninja fixed him mask. 

"Well? What did you smell?" He asked, tilting his head sideways, much like the way a puppy would.

"I smelled… a thunderstorm. There was rain... and air… and I don't know how but I swear I smelled lightning in there too." The boy answered, clearly unsettled by his own actions.

Kakashi chuckled loudly. "Well, that makes sense. My main jutsu is a lightning style." He said with a smile. 

Kakashi moved over towards his dresser and pulled a deck of cards off the top. "Wanna play a card game?" He questioned.

"Well… I've never played a card game before. I don't know how." Tenzo replied sullenly. 

Kakashi's eyes crinkled into a large smile before he replied "Don't worry. I'll teach you. We'll start with something easy."

As Kakashi started dealing cards, he could hear whispering outside of his door. No doubt it was Kushina coming home, and Minato explaining to her that Kakashi ACTUALLY brought a friend home. He closed his eyes in a grimace and looked to his young friend. "Sorry about what's about to happen" was all he managed to get out before his door opened.

"Kakashi?" Kushina called out as she stepped into the room. "Minato told me you had a friend over and I just wanted to check and see if you boys needed anything?"

Her eyes were bright with obvious excitement. As much as Kakashi enjoyed living with them, he didn't much enjoy how weird they got if he "acted like a normal kid". Kakashi also knew that this was just her excuse to come in and meet his new friend. He rolled his eyes at her statement and quickly tried to shoo her away. "Maa we're fine. Thank you." He quickly responded. 

The short redhead looked at Tenzo with a huge smile and held out her hand. "Hi honey, I'm Kushina!" Tenzo reached out and shook her hand. "Kinoe." Was all he replied. 

Kakashi looked over to see Tenzo had wiped all emotion from his face again. It was an amazing skill for someone his age, really. Probably only attainable because he had entered the foundation at age 4. 

Kushina interrupted his thoughts loudly. "So, Kinoe, please tell me you plan on staying for dinner?" She stared at the boy expectantly, and it was clear Tenzo didn't know what to say when he glanced over to Kakashi. 

"It's fine if you want to stay here and have dinner with us." He offered to his confused friend. "What time do you have to be back home?" He asked, offering him a way out at the same time.

"I gotta be back by 9. I can stay for dinner if it's earlier than that." Tenzo answered slowly. 

"Okay!" Kushina shouted with a little more excitement than necessary. "I'm gonna go cook!" She yelled as she ran out the door. Tenzo shot a confused glance towards Kakashi, to which the other boy just shrugged apologetically. 

~

At the dinner table, Kushina and Minato sat on one side, while Kakashi sat next to Tenzo on the other side. Their dinner was a simple salmon and rice meal, but Kushina was a great cook, and always managed to make the food way better than it should be. Tenzo looked on as the little family talked, joked and laughed with each other. The older couple told Kinoe several embarrassing stories from Kakashi's earlier years with them as well, and Tenzo really enjoyed the family dynamic. He had never experienced anything quite like this before, and he felt himself start to relax and join in on all the laughter and good times. 

After a particularly funny story about Kakashi trying to sneak up on Minato, Tenzo laughed so hard he dropped a bit of salmon into his lap off of his fork. 

Kakashi reached over to the napkin tray and held one out for him. "Oi, Tenzo, here is a napkin."

"Thank you!" Tenzo replied quickly. After wiping himself up, he looked up to see Minato and Kushina staring at him, confused. Minato was the first to speak up. "Hey uh… I thought your name was Kinoe?" His bright blue eyes drilled a hole through Tenzo as he was unsure what to say in return. Luckily, Kakashi cut in. "His name IS Kinoe, I just like to call him Tenzo instead."   
"Why is that? Is it his last name or something?" Kushina cut in.

"Last name?" Tenzo squeaked out questioningly. 

The table went silent. Minato had a serious look on his face, slightly tinged with concern.   
"Kinoe, I have a question for you." He voiced into the silence. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but your not in any sort of trouble. I promise. Are you… with the foundation?" 

A sharp inhale of realization from Kushina was the only thing heard for a few moments after the question hit the open air. A slight look of panic briefly crossed his features before he fixed his demeanor and looked over to Kakashi. There was a look of concern on the other boys face, but also a question. Kakashi knew he couldn't really speak about being in the foundation for himself. He gave him a slight nod in affirmation before turning back to the adults. 

"Tenzo," Kakashi started, "well, Kinoe I mean, IS in the foundation. But he doesn't have a family so he doesn't have a last name." He explained slowly, with both adults hanging on his every word. "Kinoe is the name the foundation gave him, since he didn't have one. So I gave him the name Tenzo, so he has a real name that isn't just a codename."

After a moment of thought, Minato flashed a cheesy grin before responding. "Well, Tenzo, it's nice having you over. You are welcome in our house any time you like!"

Tenzo's jaw dropped. He honestly expected more of a harsh reaction. These people were so understanding, he thought. It's no wonder they took Kakashi in during his time of need. 

At his clear look of astonishment, both adults and Kakashi broke out in huge fits of laughter. The energy was so contagious, Tenzo found himself laughing too before smiling and looking down to finish his food. He knew right then, that this family would be the best thing to ever happen to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I have through chapter ten written up already and I will probably get super excited and post a new chapter every day until I catch up with myself because that's just who I am. I read this through like 30 times so hopefully there aren't too many problems.


	3. Birthday Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tenzo is invited over for Kakashi's birthday

Three weeks after first meeting Kakashi's family, Tenzo was still a steady presence in Kakashi's life. They hung out every day they could, but there were times when one or both of them were sent on missions. Kakashi was always able to leave a note for Tenzo on his front door if he got called away, but the nature of Tenzo's missions for the foundation didn't usually give him advanced warning to leave a note. Kakashi understood all of this, of course, and just assumed if he didn't show up, he was on a mission. 

Today, they were sparring in Kakashi's favorite field. 

"Earth style: mud wall!" Kakashi shouted as he blocked Tenzo's running taijutsu attack. He stepped back, eyes widening as tree roots sprang out from the wall towards him. He jumped across the roots, avoiding them with the precision of an expert. Tenzo had predicted this, however, and one root reached up suddenly and clipped Kakashi's ankle, sending him tumbling to the ground. He rolled to stand up, barely escaping the rampant wood style coming at him. He wasn't fast enough to his feet though, and was quickly wrapped up. 

"Chidori!" Came a muffled cry from the pile as chunks of wood shot away from the small lightening user. His hand buzzing with bright blue chakra, he aggressively attacked Tenzo's wood style until there wasn't any left. He looked up just in time to see the other boy launch his hands into the dirt. 

"Earth style: endless cavern!" He heard him shout as giant cracks raced out from Tenzo's feet. Kakashi raced the hole opening in the ground, throwing up his own hand sign and shouting. "Shadow clone jutsu!" His clone sprinted with him as they separated to attack Tenzo from the front and back. Tenzo engaged them in taijutsu, efficiently blocking both of their attacks before sending the clone to the ground with a swift kick to the chest. He turned just in time to see Kakashi's foot hit the side of his face as he was launched sideways to the ground.

Tenzo gasped as he fought to catch his breath. Kakashi had won. Again. Every time they engaged each other though, it lasted a little longer, and Tenzo couldn't help but be proud of the progress he was making. Kakashi walked over and laid on the ground next to him, breathing just as hard, if not harder, than Tenzo. 

"Nice one, Tenzo. You really are getting better." He spoke between ragged breaths. 

"Thanks. Soon I will be able to take you down instead." He replied.

Kakashi ran a hand through his silver hair before speaking again. "You certainly took my clone out a lot faster this time. Your taijutsu is pretty strong." 

"Yeah well our practicing is certainly helping." Tenzo said with a smile. The sun was warm, too warm, he thought. He shielded his eyes from it for a moment to look over at his friend, only to see him doing the same. He sat up before turning around to place his hands on the ground. Behind them, he grew a beautiful maple tree to shade them while they relaxed. 

"Thanks." He heard kakashi mumble. "Hey Tenzo?" He spoke again. 

"Mmm?" 

"Do you wanna come over tomorrow to my house? We're sort of having a thing." Kakashi said awkwardly.

"What sort of thing?" Tenzo questioned.

"Well, it's my birthday, so we were gonna have some cake and stuff if you wanted to come over." He said with a shrug. 

Tenzo flashed him a bright smile before nodding his head in agreement. "Of course I will."

"Tenzo… do you have a birthday?" Kakashi asked hesitantly. 

Tenzo thought for a moment, staring up into the clouds. "No, I don't think I do. I know I'm twelve. But that's it."

"You're twelve? So am I. Well… I guess until tomorrow. Then I'm thirteen." He paused. "I'm glad your coming over."

"Me too." Tenzo replied.

~

The next morning, Tenzo and Kakashi wandered through town. Kakashi was grateful Tenzo was allowed to come out this early. The other boy had explained to him that Danzo was impressed with the progress he was making, and was willing to allow him to go out earlier sometimes. They wandered about through stalls and vendors for a while before Tenzo spoke up. 

"What is it we're looking for?" He asked quietly, clearly trying not to draw attention to himself. 

"Kushina needs a new cake knife I guess. Sounded to me like she just wanted me out of the house to make the cake." He said with a shrug. 

Before Tenzo could ask anything else, they were interrupted by the exact thing Kakashi was hoping to avoid today. 

"MY ETERNAL RIVAL! THERE YOU ARE!"

Even through the mask, Kakashi's cringe was visible. 

"Hey, Gai." He said with a pout.

The words had barely left his mouth before a tall, gangly boy in an awful green jumpsuit landed in front of him. Kakashi noticed Tenzo tense up at the intrusion, but could tell he quickly recovered to bury his reaction. 

Looking back to Gai, he decided to go for his usual passive attitude in hopes of avoiding another embarrassing challenge, though he didn't really believe he could get that lucky. 

"Kakashi, my best friend, who is this fine young fellow you have brought here today?" Gai belted out in the middle of the street. 

"Maa… this is Tenzo," he said with a brief gesture beside him, an idea popping into his head, "he is my best friend."

Gai and Tenzo both sat there, wide-eyed. Tenzo was thrilled, but Gai… not so much. His eyes started watering immediately. 

"THAT'S MY RIVAL. ALWAYS SO COOL!" He shouted before taking off down the road as fast as he could. 

Kakashi let out a sigh and closed his eyes for a moment. "We better find that knife before Kushina gets mad." He spoke before turning back to the vendors. 

After a brief silence, Tenzo spoke up. "Kakashi? Am I really your best friend?"

Kakashi thought for a moment, before shrugging. "Yes, you are. But mostly I said it back there to get Gai to stop harassing me. It was pretty effective if I do say so myself." He chuckled. 

Tenzo flashed him a brilliant smile. "I'm glad I could help. I've never had a best friend before!" He said, with barely contained excitement. Kakashi gave a quick smile before moving on to the vendors. Eventually, they found someone selling knives. The vendor was a small old lady, in a dingy little shack. Kakashi couldn't help noticing when Tenzo pushed the big purple candle that was lit on the counter over to the farthest spot from Kakashi's sensitive nose. He grinned beneath his mask as he turned away. 'He really IS my best friend' he thought to himself. 

~

When Kakashi and Tenzo entered back through the front door of the house, they were immediately greeted with the excited voice of Kushina. "MINATO! GET OUT HERE! THE BOYS ARE BACK!" 

Tenzo didn't know what people actually did for birthdays, but he wasn't sure that whatever it was called for the giddiness Kushina was exhibiting. He had spent quite a few dinners with them now, and everytime they still managed to surprise him with how kind they were. 

Minato appeared around the corner in a flash, and the fiery redhead ushered the boys to the kitchen table. The older blonde walked over to Tenzo smiling, and he knelt down to eye-level. "Hold still for a second Tenzo." He pulled a small paper birthday hat out from behind his back and Tenzo flinched slightly before allowing the man to fasten it to his head. 

The small brunette boy immediately tilted his head back to try to spot the uncomfortable addition, feeling foolish very quickly after realizing the effort was futile. He glanced towards Kakashi, the birthday boy was snickering in the chair next to him while fixing a hat of his own to his head. 

Face flushed with embarrassment, he watched Minato retreat back into the kitchen. Despite the weird hat, he was excited to be celebrating Kakashi's birthday with his family. Tenzo often dreamed of them now, as if they were his own family. Kakashi, Minato, Kushina, the dogs, all of it. They made him feel like this was where he belonged. And sometimes he wished he didn't have to be bound to the foundation. 

Tenzo's attention was shifted to Kushina, walking in with what he assumed was the birthday cake. She gently set it down in front of Kakashi, with the grace only a shinobi could manage, and began lighting candles. Tenzo counted them. Thirteen exactly. The blue cake looked delicious, and he silently wondered how it would taste.

He startled as Minato appeared in front of him. The ecstatic blonde placed a second cake in front of Tenzo. He looked up at the man, question and worry in his big dark eyes. 

"Tenzo, Kakashi told us you don't know when your birthday was. So he came up with this great idea. We've decided today should be your birthday too, and it's only fitting for you to share this wonderful day with Kakashi for the rest of your life." 

Tenzo stared down at the cake, his cake. His eyes betrayed him as they started to water. The cake was a light green color, with black writing on it saying "Happy Birthday Tenzo". He counted the candles. Thirteen again. He took several deep breaths as he tried to fight back the tears. He felt Kushina wrap her arms around his small shoulders as she gave him a warm embrace from behind his chair. The embrace of a parent. The kind of embrace Tenzo has never before had. He started crying. 

"Tenzo, are you okay?" He heard Kakashi ask from next to him, as a pale hand reached over to his arm. Tenzo nodded through his tears and smiled over to his friend. The OTHER birthday boy, because he was now a birthday boy too. The emotions swirling around in his head were almost too much for him to take, but he finally managed to pull himself together enough to whisper a small "Thank you" through ragged breaths. Kushina rubbed small circles between his shoulders before walking around the table to light Tenzo's candles.

"Oi, Tenzo." Kakashi spoke when she was done. The red faced child looked to his left to answer. 

"Now we gotta blow out the candles. Before you do, make a wish in your head. Don't tell anyone. And if you blow out all the candles in one shot your dream will come true." He explained thoughtfully. 

"Really? Does it really come true?" The inexperienced boy asked. 

"So they say." Kakashi said with a shrug.

Tenzo thought for just a moment about his wish. He already knew what his biggest with was. He smiled brightly at all three of his companions before taking in a giant breath. He blew across his cake and got all of his in one shot.

'I hope it's true' he thought to himself as Kushina cut giant slices of cake for everyone. 

Tenzo took his first bite of cake and was shocked with the sweetness of it. It was one of the best things he had ever eaten in his life. He couldn't believe there was something that tasted so good. He looked around the table to see three sets of happy eyes staring back at him. Clearly, they could tell that was his first taste of the delicious dessert, and were pleased with the results. He smiled back at them and dug into his plate like a rabid animal. 

He could get used to this. This family, this warmth, this life. Why couldn't he run away and stay here forever? Forever with these people who cared about him, who wanted him here. With the brilliant blonde ball of sunshine who was in line to be the next Hokage. With the passionate woman who treated him like her own child. And most of all, he wanted to stay here with his best friend, who offered him comfort and friendship he had never known, and understood the REAL Tenzo. Not the one who lined up when called, like a trained attack dog. The one who loved flowers and animals, and enjoyed simply watching the clouds pass by.

In his heart, he knew why he couldn't stay. He belonged to the foundation. Danzo's claws had been dug into him long ago, right when the curse mark of the foundation was sealed into his tongue, preventing him from spreading foundation secrets. After this, he would have to go back. Back to his gray life. The cold, plain walls of his dark room. The room with just a bed and a dresser. He was lucky to have made it this far without being caught, really. In his head he wondered how long this could go on before he was busted and had all this warmth and comfort ripped from his life. 

He knew it could only last so long.


	4. The Sharingan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tenzo helps Kakashi through his grief. Bad summary, I know. Sorry!

Kakashi walked with gusto to the training field the next day. He would meet Tenzo there in a matter of minutes, and he couldn't wipe the smile off of his face at how successful the birthday party was last night. Tenzo had shown a new range of emotion, one that Kakashi hadn't been sure he was even capable of, and it warmed Kakashi's heart knowing he was able to help make it happen. 

Minato and Kushina were practically drooling over the idea before he even finished telling it. He knew they would be thrilled. They were by far the nicest people he knew, and they absolutely adored Tenzo. Kakashi knew deep down part of their affection towards the other boy was because they were happy to see Kakashi with a friend, but more than that he knew it was because Tenzo deserved the love. He deserved to be happy. Not a day went by where he wished Tenzo didn't have to go back to the dreary place beneath the city. 

Kakashi was almost to the field, and hardly noticed the group of kids up ahead as he trudged on, deep in thought. It wasn't until they started whispering that he paid them any mind. He looked at them through his peripherals and counted. Five of them, and they kept glancing at him as they violently whispered in a huddle. 

"Hey, Hatake!" The tallest one shouted. He was wearing a plain black sweatshirt and blue jeans, and wore his blonde hair in a ponytail. He didn't look up, just kept on walking. "Hatake! We're talking to you!" A second one shouted. Still, he kept moving. 

"Yeah go ahead and run away, just like your pathetic dad did!"

He stopped. He turned to look at them, his anger quickly boiling over. 

"What's the matter? Little baby getting mad? Maybe your precious fake dad will come save you!" Another one shouted out.

Kakashi's hands started shaking. He knew people still spoke ill of his father, but for someone to say something like that about Minato… he couldn't forgive that. 

"You know he just adopted you because he wanted brownie points to become the next Hokage! There's no other reason anyone would waste their time on you!" 

That was it. Kakashi charged forward, kunai suddenly in hand. His vision went red as he gained ground towards the jerks ahead of him. 

Then, he was stopped. He glanced to the ground and saw it. Shadow possession jutsu. He was trapped. His eyes widened as all five boys walked up to him, suddenly looking much taller and bigger than before. Kakashi never felt so small as he was surrounded by the enemy. 

One boy ripped the kunai out of his hand, and the jutsu was dropped. Before Kakashi could react to regaining movement again, he was jumped. The first boy punched him in the face quickly, as the others joined in and knocked him to the ground with their own kicks and punches. Kakashi rolled into a ball as he was struck again and again. He cried out as a solid kick nailed him in his ribcage, sending waves of pain through his whole body.

"Get off of him!" He heard over the noise, as each boy was suddenly ripped away by the large roots of a tree. 'Tenzo!' His brain willed him to shout out, but his voice was too weak. 

~

Tenzo laid under a tree in the training field when he first heard the shouting. At first he ignored it. But then, he could swear he heard Kakashi's name being called. Curious, he pulled himself up from the ground and wandered over. 

By the time he got there, a small crowd of kids were gathered around attacking something on the ground. "What the heck is going on?" He said to himself. Everything was moving too fast for him to see what was happening. 

Then, he heard it. The sharp cry coming out from the pile. He would recognize that voice anywhere. He looked to see a flash of silver hair in between flying legs and fists. 

He panicked, and before he could think he was running, and yelling. He threw his hands together and sprung roots from the ground. Ripping each attacker from the crowd, and sending shrieking bullies hurtling to the ground before securing them there with other roots. All the attackers were gone in a matter of seconds, but those few seconds felt like ages. He started to move towards Kakashi's limp form on the ground.

"Tenzo!" A panicked cry sprang out from the far right, and he looked over. He started to panic all over again as he met the wide blue eyes of Minato, his jaw was dropped, and a lunch sack was in his hand. Minato stepped forward, both arms out as a sign he meant no harm. 

"Tenzo, let them go."

Tenzo immediately listened to the man he trusted and released his jutsu. The bullies all made a run for the hills as Tenzo watched their retreat. The blonde man ran over to Kakashi, jumping to the ground and pulling the injured boy up into his lap. Sparks of green flew out of his gentle fingers as he began the healing process immediately. Kakashi appeared to curl up into Minato's embrace as his shaking body finally started to calm down. Tenzo couldn't look away from the fragile boy as tears fell for the second time in as many days. 

"Tenzo." Minato said firmly before taking a breath and looking up at him. "Why do you have the mokuton?"

Tenzo gasped. He hadn't thought about it. He saw Kakashi in trouble and couldn't think straight. Here he was, a member of the foundation, out here in an open field using a FORBIDDEN JUTSU STYLE he wasn't even supposed to have, let alone show anyone. Other than members of the foundation, Kakashi was the only person to have witnessed his wood style jutsu and live. Now, he's inadvertently just showed it to the man who was probably going to become HOKAGE. 

Tenzo's next breath came with great difficulty, along with the one after. He was panicking again, he realized, and he forced himself to stow away his feelings slowly. 

"Tenzo… I'm not going to tell anyone. But you and I both know you shouldn't be using that jutsu in front of others. No one will believe those kids when they say something, but you need to be careful. Now, let's get Kakashi home." Minato picked himself up off the ground, cradling the damaged boy in his arms. Tenzo followed him back to the house. 

When they walked in the front door, Tenzo heard glass shatter from the kitchen. 

"Kakashi! Minato, what happened!" Kushina shouted as she bolted towards the pair, tears already falling from her face. 

"He's alright, Kushina! Calm down. He was jumped by some kids by the training fields. Tenzo was there to pull them off, so he's gonna be okay. He just needs to rest." Minato spoke softly, trying not to jostle Kakashi in his arms. 

Kushina looked over to Tenzo, with a grateful smile showing through her tears and she moved to pull him into a long hug. Tenzo welcomed the comfort, as he was still feeling his heart beating a mile a minute. He hugged her back, and felt her drop down to kiss him sweetly on his forehead. She ran a reassuring hand through his wild brown hair for a moment. There was no doubt in Tenzo's mind that she could feel his heart fluttering full of panic, but her soft touches slowly put him at ease. 

"Thank you, Tenzo. You really are a wonderful boy." She cooed at him before letting him go. He looked around to see Minato placing Kakashi down on the couch carefully. He was awake, and that alone allowed Tenzo to breathe much easier. Kushina had run back to the kitchen to fix them some food and pick up her broken glass from the floor, and Minato motioned for Tenzo to come sit on the couch. He complied with the offer, sitting down on the couch next to Kakashi slowly, looking at him worriedly. To his relief, Kakashi glanced over at him, giving him a signature eye crinkling smile. 

After a while, Kushina returned to the room with two plates. Both of them with a couple grilled cheese sandwiches on them. Once Kakashi grabbed his plate from her slowly, Tenzo eagerly grabbed his. Kushina knew Tenzo loved the grilled cheese sandwiches she had made them the last time, and he was more than happy to scarf down the offering. 

Both adults finally left them to relax on the couch after Minato healed more of the scrapes and bruises that littered Kakashi's body. The boys were exhausted from all the excitement of the afternoon.

When Tenzo woke up later on, he was still on the couch with Kakashi. The other boy was fast asleep, using Tenzo's shoulder as a pillow. 

~

Two weeks after the bullying incident, Minato had not mentioned or asked about the mokuton. Tenzo was relieved, and he wasn't sure if it was because he was scared of getting busted at the foundation, or scared of Kakashi's family finding out the truth of his past. Would they still like him if they knew he got the mokuton from Orochimaru? Would they care that 59 other children had died in the experiment before him? He didn't know, and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out. Kakashi, he knew, wouldn't hate him for it. But the adults? They knew more of Orochimaru and the horrible things Tenzo had come from. What would they say?

He picked up his pace as he headed towards Kakashi's house. Maybe he would tell him the truth of it all. He could confide in his friend, he knew this, but a part of him was still scared to reveal that much of himself. 

*knock knock knock*

He tapped on the door briskly, the same way he always does. Kakashi had been gone for four days on a mission, but he was supposed to have returned last night. 

Kushina answered, dark circles under her eyes. She straightened up when she saw Tenzo and smiled down at him. 

"Has Kakashi returned from his mission yet?" Tenzo asked hopefully.

Kushina sighed. "Minato and Kakashi haven't come home yet, Dear. It seems there have been complications. I don't know what, and Lord Third can't tell me anything." She ran a tired hand down the side of her face. Tenzo wondered if this was what it looked like when you were worried about someone. He didn't see emotions like this at the foundation. 

"So sorry to bother you, Kushina. I'm sure they will be back home before you know it!" He offered with a reassuring smile. "I will be back tomorrow." 

"Thank you, Tenzo." He heard the exhausted woman say before retreating back into the house. 

He walked with his hands in his pockets and his face down, looking at the ground. A small frown crossed his face. He continued, not really bothering to watch where he was going as he wandered out into the forest.

"They're gonna be fine." He said to himself. 

~

Tenzo once again knocked on the white wooden door. He shuffled from one foot to the other, nervous. Yesterday, he had returned to this house and no one answered the door. This makes day three of Tenzo looking for Kakashi. He didn't know what to expect, as once again Kushina answered the door. The black marks under her eyes worse than they were two days ago. 

"Oh… Tenzo. Come on in Honey." She spoke quietly. Too quiet. Tenzo was apprehensive as he walked through the door. Inside on the couch was Minato, his head was resting in his arms, and his hair had a definite brown tint to it. Was it blood? Or was it dirt? Tenzo had been around enough blood and gore to know that it was, in fact, blood. His stomach churned as he looked at the man on the couch, noticing the distinct absence of Kakashi in the front half of the house. 

"Tenzo." Minato spoke, his voice shaking and barely above a whisper. "Come over here please." 

Tenzo slowly made his way to the couch, stopping about a foot away. He couldn't bring himself to sit, not with his nerves going full boar, and his stomach threatening to expel his breakfast. When Minato looked up, Tenzo froze. His normally bright face was weathered, with the look of a man who had been torn to shreds and stitched back together. The black circles and tired lines under his eyes screamed to Tenzo. This man had been crying. A lot. 

"Tenzo," He started, reaching out to grab the young boy's hand. Tenzo didn't resist, but the room went viciously cold as he struggled to breath. He needed to know. 

"Is Kakashi… alive?" He said, eyes starting to water. 

Minato continued to look at him, massaging Tenzo's now shaking hand with cold fingers. "Yes. He is. But before you see him there's something you should know. I don't want him to have to tell you himself."

Minato spoke softly, telling Tenzo all about their complicated mission. They had been forced to separate; Minato going one way and Kakashi leading the team in another. From what he gathered, the girl on their team, Rin, was kidnapped. The boys went in to try to save her, and Kakashi was hurt pretty bad. The other boy, Obito, had died to save Kakashi. 

He also learned that they returned from the mission yesterday morning, but Kakashi had been admitted to the hospital immediately. It's no wonder nobody was home when Tenzo stopped by. Kushina must've been at the hospital. They had only been allowed to bring Kakashi home a few hours ago.

Tenzo took a deep breath of air. He was relieved. It almost felt wrong to be so thrilled about this outcome. Kakashi was alive! But… another child had died. Normally, Tenzo didn't dwell too much on the constant stream of death around him. He was ROOT, after all. This time, it felt wrong. This boy had been Kakashi's friend, whether he liked to admit it or not, and he had sacrificed himself for him. His heart was breaking for all the turbulent emotions Kakashi must have been going through.

"Tenzo? Would you like to go see him?" Kushina interrupted his thoughts to ask. He only nodded in response, not trusting his voice. They walked down the hall together to Kakashi's door. Kushina motioned for him to wait a moment, and she peeked her head in the door. Tenzo heard her whispering, and just assumed she was checking if Kakashi wanted any visitors. After a moment, she finally looked back out and nodded her permission to go inside. Tenzo felt himself holding his breath. 

Kakashi sat on the floor in front of his bed. A large chunk of the left side of his face was wrapped in bandages, along with other miscellaneous parts of his body. He raised his head to watch Tenzo as he entered the room, and he just looked so small, so tired. Even from across the room Tenzo could see him shaking and see old tear trails from his uncovered eye. 

Kushina shut the door behind him and it was a fight to force himself to breathe. Tenzo practically ran to Kakashi. He slid down to his knees on the carpet and threw his arms over shaking shoulders. He held on to him tightly, refusing to let go of this child, this person who had shown him what true family was. He felt Kakashi's tiny arms reach around his midsection and squeeze him back. 

"Kakashi… I'm glad you are alive." Tenzo said after a few minutes of silence. Kakashi's body still shaking, he pulled away to look Tenzo in the eyes. Tears ran rampant down the small part of his face that was visible. Tenzo looked to his bandage. Clearly the other eye was still intact, because the gauze was getting soaked from tears. "Your dressing is getting wet." He spoke softly, arms still on Kakashi's distraught shoulders. 

When Kakashi finally spoke, his voice was almost non-existent. Whether it was from crying, yelling, or injury, Tenzo didn't know. 

"I have to take it off when it gets wet. This is like the third time. Please don't get Kushina. I want to let it breathe for a while and she won't let me if she knows." Kakashi squeaked out.

He moved farther away and Tenzo let go to give him some space to work. Kakashi slowly started peeling away the wrapping on his head, looking down to the ground before pulling the last bit off. He kept the left eye closed as he lifted his head to show Tenzo the extent of the injury.

Tenzo gasped. The scar was huge. The medical ninjas had healed it most of the way, but it still appeared a little red and agitated. The scar went pretty far down Kakashi's cheek, as evidenced by a cut in his fabric mask. 

"I can't believe you still have an eye at all." Tenzo finally said when he recovered from the shock. Kakashi just stared at him. Tenzo gazed right back, unsure of what the stare was supposed to mean. Did he misread the situation with the tears? Did Kakashi actually lose the eye? As he watched, Kakashi slowly opened the left eye.

Tenzo froze again. His thoughts were racing a mile a minute as he stared, entranced by the newly revealed red sharingan in the boy's left eye. He couldn't breathe. The eye was beautiful, if not a bit petrifying at the same time. Tenzo knew exactly what it meant. Anyone in Danzo's top crew knew what this meant. That's Obito's eye. 

Tenzo finally pulled himself together. "Did… did he give it to you?" He asked, wary of upsetting his friend. 

"Yes. You know how this works? I'm a little surprised you didn't run away when you saw it." Kakashi said, frowning behind his mask and drifting his gaze to the ground. 

"Yeah, I know how the transplant process works. But… I would never run from you. Even if I didn't understand why you would have that eye." Tenzo replied as he reached out to grip Kakashi's arm, trying to reassure him that everything is okay. 

"The main problem, the doctors say, is that I can't shut it off like someone who was born with it can. So I'm going to have to keep it covered a lot or I will always pass out from chakra exhaustion." Kakashi added sullenly. 

"Look Kakashi, I didn't know Obito. But I'm glad he gave you that eye. Now you can always have that little part of him with you, wherever you go. The eye… it's…" he trailed off, looking at the ground before finishing his thought. "Beautiful, really.

Obito will always be a hero to me. Even if I've never met him. He is the reason you got to come home, and I could never thank him enough for letting me keep the only friend I've ever had in my life." 

Kakashi reached forward and hugged Tenzo tightly. "Thank you for being here with me, Tenzo."

~

The next week went by quickly. Tenzo returned to visit Kakashi every day he could, and Kakashi was grateful for his friend's company. They never talked of Obito after the first day. Another thing Kakashi had to be thankful for. Tenzo understood, he ALWAYS understood. He knew when Kakashi needed a distraction or if he needed silence. He also knew when to be a buffer between Kakashi and Kushina, since the latter insisted on caring for him like an overprotective mother hen. Tenzo would distract her with a question about normal activities he wasn't sure about or how to handle social situations he had never been in. It was an art form, really, how Tenzo almost surgically inserted himself between Kakashi and all his pain. The two boys watched movies, played games, and talked about fighting techniques.

Even without the whole mission ordeal, the house would have been a nightmare without his friend there. In one week's time, Minato was going to assume his duties as the Fourth Hokage. The third had finally decided it was time to retire, and Kakashi was happy for Minato, even if it meant he wasn't part of their team. The good news was that Kakashi had already been promoted to jonin and could lead his own missions. 

Kakashi watched the inauguration, thrilled to see Minato fulfilling his dreams. He only wished Tenzo could attend. But with Danzo being up with the village elders, it wasn't worth the risk. Minato threatened to ban Tenzo from the house if he even attempted to go, but settled for letting the boy watch movies at their home during the ceremony. Kakashi knew his life was going to change with Minato being the new Hokage, but he hadn't even come close to guessing how much.


	5. The Foundation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minato deals with the mokuton and the foundation

It had been a month since Obito died. Kakashi's eye healed well, not that anyone ever saw it. Tenzo wondered how anyone would ever recognize Kakashi if he just walked around with no mask, and no headband to cover his sharingan. The hair, he mused to himself. There is no disguising that wild silver hair. He chuckled lightly thinking about the time he showed up earlier than expected to Kakashi's house. He knocked, and after a minute or so Kakashi finally opened the door. His tired eyes squinting, barely even open, and his hair flattened on one side where he had been laying on it. It was a sight to see, that's for sure. 

He walked along a muddy path and his grin turned into a frown when he remembered why he was here. He was meeting Kakashi here at the memorial stone for a reason, and he shouldn't be laughing. 

Today was Rin's funeral.

Barely a month after Kakashi had lost Obito, Rin had impaled herself on his chidori. Kakashi was distraught, Tenzo knew, but there wasn't much he could do about it. There wasn't anything he could say to remove the pain from that wound, nothing he could do to dry the tears Kakashi had cried. He was asked to come to the stone today. He was to stand by Kakashi and Minato to support them in their time of grieving. Tenzo didn't really know what to do, but if they wanted him there, it was going to happen. Danzo didn't concern himself with the burials of such minor ninja, so he knew it would be fine. 

Since all of Kakashi's team mates were dead (with the exception of Minato), Kakashi had been approved for a transfer to Anbu. Tenzo was happy for him. He needed an outlet for all that anger. Kushina wasn't thrilled, but she accepted that Kakashi needed to make his own choices in life. 

Tenzo rounded the corner to see a small gathering of people. Minato stood up front, eyes empty. He was absent mindedly rubbing the back of Kakashi's shoulder, who was standing to his right. Kakashi was pale, and with the light drizzle that had started, he almost looked fragile. Nevermind the fact that he was a jonin level ninja. Tenzo silently walked up and stood to Kakashi's right, placing a hand on the shoulder opposite of Minato. Kakashi was shivering, but Tenzo knew they would have to wait until after the funeral to deal with that. 

The event was beautiful. So many nice words had been said about the girl Tenzo had only known through Kakashi's stories. This was his first funeral, and he had been unprepared for the amount of sadness it entailed. Even through his emotionless facade, a tear streaked down his face as they finally left the grounds.

~

Minato had taken office more than a month ago, but the large room with the giant desk was still a little intimidating for him. He sat down in his chair and organized his desk. He had recently taken a couple days off to console Kakashi after Rin's death, and the piles of paperwork adorning his desk was the proof. His first month in office was a whirlwind of meetings, traveling, and festivals to celebrate his rise to Hokage status. But, now that the excitement had died down and he had a break from meetings with the council and feudal lords, Minato could finally focus on something he had planned to deal with long before he was chosen. 

He searched through all the educational books he had brought from the library, scanning all information on the first Hokage and related info. He only had one thing on his mind; the mokuton. Why would Tenzo have that jutsu? And furthermore, why was such a valuable jutsu being hidden away in the foundation? Minato stood and stretched, having given up on his search through the books, and took off out the window to get answers. 

15 minutes later, Minato arrived at his destination. He walked up to a large house off the edge of the city and knocked on the door. With a resounding creak, the old door opened. 

"Lord Third. I was hoping we could have a few moments to speak. I have some important questions to ask you." He spoke directly to the previous Hokage. 

Minato was shown through the house into the kitchen, where Hiruzen Sarutobi fixed them both cups of tea. 

"Now, what is so pertinent to have brought the fourth Hokage here in the middle of a weekday?" The older man spoke, driving the conversation straight to it's true purpose. 

"Lord Third, in all your time as Hokage, has there ever been anyone BESIDES the first that was capable of using the mokuton?" Minato questioned. 

"The mokuton? That's why you are here? Of course not. Why?" Hiruzen spoke, confusion obvious in his voice. 

"I happen to know there IS someone else who can use the mokuton. A boy. One who is part of the foundation." He spoke sternly, his face dark with seriousness. 

Hiruzen took a moment to think. He sat back and closed his eyes before continuing his questions. "This boy… how old is he? Around thirteen?"

Minato's eyes narrowed. It was too convenient for Hiruzen to guess Tenzo's ago so quickly. "Yes. What is it that you know?"

The elder man breathed a deep sigh. He rubbed his fingers on the bridge of his nose. "Well, this makes things quite interesting. Almost a decade ago, we had discovered that Orochimaru was kidnapping children and putting them through all sorts of horrible experiments. He had bases all over fire country, I doubt we even found them all. One of the more… brutal, experiments he had been running was one involving the first Hokage's DNA."

He paused to take a sip of his tea, with Minato silently waiting on the edge of his seat.

"Orochimaru was trying to obtain the mokuton by injecting kidnapped children with the first's cells. They were kept in large tubes filled with experimental liquid, hooked up to wires and machines until they died. When we came upon the scene, there were 59 dead children in the lab. Some had malfunctioning equipment, and were found to have suffocated in the tubes. Others, the mokuton went rampant in their little bodies and killed them from the inside out. A horribly painful death, as you could imagine. At the time, I knew, I knew in my heart that 59 was an odd number for an experiment. And when I reached the end of the room, when I counted that 60th shattered tube, I wanted to believe Lord Danzo when he told me they hadn't found any survivors. Now, it appears I was rather naive."

Minato sat there, jaw dropped and dazed from the information he had been given. Tenzo had gone through this? All the poking and prodding and pain he must've went through… the thought tore through his heart, and tears formed in his eyes, threatening to spill over his now pale face. 

"You said you know this boy? You are sure he is capable of wielding the mokuton?" Lord third asked quizzically.

Minato moved his mouth, unable to answer for a moment until he finally found his voice. "I... know him quite well. Kakashi met him out in the forest a few months ago. They are best friends. He tells Danzo he is training in the forest every day, but in actuality he is at my house, hiding away from the foundation with my son. This boy, is family to me. I have seen him use it personally"

Hiruzen thought for another moment, graying eyes lost in years long passed. "Minato. The fact that Lord Danzo was willing to keep this sort of thing a secret is a true sign of treason. In fact, the very act of hiding this boy, this experiment, is grounds for the most severe punishment. You know what you must do, correct?"

Minato cringed at Hiruzen calling Tenzo an experiment. The young boy was so much more than that. But, he knew the old man was right. He needed to get rid of Danzo and end the foundation once and for all. The shock on his face was replaced with sheer determination as he stared into the face of his predecessor. "I may need your help planning this, Lord third."

~

Kakashi took a deep breath before slipping into his Anbu uniform. In his two months in the organization, his was quickly made a captain. He was the youngest captain in Anbu history, and he had earned it. There were some older people in the ranks that made comments, either towards him or behind his back, about his promotion being due to Minato stepping in. That was easy enough to solve. He never backed down and offered a challenge to anyone doubting him. There wasn't a person in Anbu that could defeat him, especially now that he was proficient with his sharingan. 

Two days ago, Minato held a meeting with a few of the most trusted captains. Today, they were infiltrating and shutting down the foundation. Kakashi had noted that Minato conveniently scheduled the excursion when Tenzo was away on a week-long mission. They were aware Danzo wasn't going down without a fight, and there would be casualties. Tenzo wasn't due back until at least tomorrow. 

Kakashi strapped his sword to his back and closed his eyes. He stood in the middle of his room, trying to calm his nerves. Minato would be leading this mission personally and will be confronting Danzo with all the evidence he has before any action was to be taken. Best case scenario, Danzo understands this is bad and submits. That wasn't going to happen. Everyone knew that. That's why Minato had basically the entire company going with him this morning. 

Nerves settled for the moment, Kakashi moved his Anbu mask into place before leaving his room. He entered the livingroom to see Kushina waiting for him, her eyes red from an obvious lack of sleep. She didn't approach him. She knew better than to try to show him affection before a mission. Once he was in his Anbu uniform, he was the hound. He nodded to her before moving to the front door. 

"Be careful." He heard her whisper as he left. 

~

It was time. 

Kakashi and his team were set to be the backup for Minato's main team. If fighting broke out, he was to leave Danzo to Minato and take out any other enemies that presented themselves. Their goal was to restrain as many foundation members as they could, but that wasn't going to be possible every time. They were permitted to kill, and Kakashi was ready for it. In his head, Kakashi wondered how Tenzo was going to take all of this. Minato had been planning this for quite some time, but had only clued Kakashi in when it was too late to tip off Tenzo. Minato didn't want the other boy involved. If fighting broke out, Tenzo would have to either risk disobeying Danzo, or go against Kakashi and Minato. They didn't want to make him choose, and Kakashi understood why they couldn't tell him. It wasn't fair to poor Tenzo. 

Minato was met by Danzo immediately when they got down to the main cavern underneath the city. It was a rounded cement room with low lighting. Kakashi's four man crew remained a good twenty feet behind Minato's, while several other groups waited further out. There were teams assigned specifically to move forward through this room to capture enemies farther in the base, and other teams outside waiting for any escape attempts. They definitely had enough people for the task. 

A group of ROOT members waited a few feet behind Danzo. Their eyes were lifeless, but so were Kakashi's. He had worked with Tenzo on this for quite some time and had found he was rather good at it. His sharingan showed through his hound mask as he stood, making an intimidating sight. 

Kakashi turned his attention back to Minato and Danzo without moving his face. The talk didn't appear to be going well. 

Danzo was a tall, older looking man with black hair. He used a cane, and had one half of his face wrapped in gauze. He was dangerous, Minato had told him. He also knew what was under the wrappings on his face. The very same thing Kakashi had half of his face covered for.

"The council is well aware of all my findings, as is the third Hokage. If you think killing me will solve your problems, Danzo, you are dead wrong. Your best option is to come quietly and accept this for what it is; the end of the foundation." Minato spoke with all the confidence and seriousness one would expect from the Hokage.

"You think you can come down here to my very own company, threaten me, and I would what… back down? Turn over everything I have worked my entire life for?! You think because some weak-minded individual thought you worthy of being Hokage, that you can get rid of us that easily?!" Danzo was practically yelling at the end of his sentence, and Kakashi sensed the foundation members shifting slightly, ready to move. 

Danzo jumped back from Minato and pulled the wrap off of one side of his face, revealing his bright red sharingan. Minato moved, lashing out at him with his lightning speed only he could manage, and Kakashi turned back to his own task. The foundation members had their weapons drawn, and were inching towards his team, warily. Kakashi decided to extend an offer before starting the fight. 

"If you submit now, you will not be punished or injured. You will be offered a position within our Anbu ranks or offered training to be part of a ninja squad. If you choose to fight, I cannot guarantee that you will walk out of this hole ever again." He spoke directly while removing his sword from the sheath across his back. 

Unsurprisingly, the foundation members didn't even consider his words before lunging forward into an attack. Kakashi smashed forward with his sword and began fighting with another sword user. She had long black hair sticking out of her mask, and was much bigger than Kakashi. His small stature always mislead people, however. They always believed him to be weak based on his size, and he constantly used that to his advantage. He waited to use his full force until he had an opening, and smashed the hilt of his sword into the woman's face, knocking her backwards and breaking her nose. She rolled on the ground, and couldn't get up before Kakashi had kicked her in the head, knocking her unconscious. 

Kakashi didn't have time to think as he jumped to dodge a fireball jutsu launched his way. He rolled quickly, landing on his feet while simultaneously forming the hand signs for a water bullet jutsu. His water techniques were strong from training with Tenzo, and he didn't need a water source to produce powerful jutsus anymore. The liquid bullets launched at his attacker, sending him into the wall. One of Kakashi's team members used a sealing jutsu on the enemy then, effectively capturing him. 

Three enemies circled Kakashi. Two Male, one female. They took their turns throwing kunai, careful not to hit their comrades on the other side. A surge of chakra suddenly caught Kakashi's attention, and he whirled around just in time to face another ROOT member that had dropped out of a hidden hole in the ceiling. His mask was shaped like a cat, with black stripes adorning the sides. It was the eyes that caught Kakashi's attention. The cat masked boy tilted his head sideways, clear confusion on his face. 

"Tenzo?" Kakashi whispered harshly. He knew Tenzo had recognized him. How could he not? His white hair was more than obvious enough sticking over his mask even without the glaring red sharingan of his left eye. 

Kakashi noticed the other members circling him had left, clearly trusting Tenzo to handle Kakashi for them. 

Across the room, Minato and Danzo had been at a stalemate apparently because Danzo started yelling again. 

"Maybe you will realize how serious I am when my right hand man kills your sweet little Kakashi!" 

At the mention of his name, Kakashi looked over to see Danzo eyeing him intently, an evil grin on his face. 

"Kinoe! Deal with that pathetic little shit for me!" He shouted.

Kakashi looked back to Tenzo, who was clearly not sure what was happening. Kakashi had to help him reach the right decision, and fast. 

"Danzo betrayed the city. We are getting rid of the foundation. You can come to Anbu with me when we are finished with this. Please… help me?" He spoke quickly and softly. 

Before Tenzo could answer, another ROOT member took advantage of Kakashi's distraction and sent several kunai at his face. Tenzo reacted quickly, forming a wooden shield on his right arm and catching the approaching kunai with ease. Kakashi looked back once more to see Danzo's face clenched in anger, and the rare smirk across Minato's face. 

The feelings of confusion and betrayal were palpable in the air as Tenzo stood by Kakashi's side, fighting off attackers. Kakashi's team caught on quickly to Tenzo's assistance and all but ignored him as far as ROOT members were concerned. The latter was clearly angry with the defection, and they swarmed the duo in droves. 

Kakashi and Tenzo fought like they had been fighting side-by-side for years. The smoothness of their styles interlocking could only be attributed to the hours upon hours of training they completed together. 

Quickly gathering that the goal was not to kill everyone, Tenzo subdued many of those that Kakashi knocked down with his mokuton. Kakashi did notice, however, that there were several people Tenzo made no effort what-so-ever to contain, and simply finished them off. Kakashi knew Tenzo would have a reason. After all, he had an intimate knowledge of the people here. The best guess he had was that Tenzo knew they had no hope of ever cooperating. 

Some shouted curses at Tenzo, while others didn't even bother looking in his direction. Others still ignored Kakashi completely, sending their jutsu attacks straight to his defecting friend. It made no difference. Kakashi and Tenzo together were an unstoppable force. 

From the right side of the room, a small staircase led underneath into another set of barracks. New soldiers were piling in from there non-stop. Tenzo looked to Kakashi and ran over to perform his water torrent jutsu into the stairwell, flooding the other rooms. Kakashi ran beside him, his right arm sizzling with electricity, and shoved his glowing chidori into the water, frying anyone inside. 

The water quickly drained out of the lower levels, and Kakashi was satisfied that the stream of enemies had ended. He turned around and barely caught a glimpse of the kunai flying straight to Tenzo's back. He shoved him to the side. The kunai hit the other boy in the shoulder. If Kakashi hadn't pushed him, it would've been a lethal blow. Tenzo cried out in pain, and dropped to his knees. Much to Kakashi's surprise, he calmed himself and stood back up. He was ready to keep fighting. Both boys looked over to see the kunai had come from none other than Danzo, as no one else remained. 

The rest of Kakashi's team had advanced to the next stage, but the captain was to remain here with Minato. Kakashi and Tenzo moved towards the fighting adults, staying far enough away not to be a distraction for Minato. 

During a moment of separation between the two, Danzo looked over in disgust at the brunette boy. "Kinoe, I never thought you would betray me. What horrible things have they been filling your mind with? They are just using you!" 

~

Tenzo stared at Danzo for a moment, trying to find the right things to say. His emotions were running rampant. All the brainwashing of his past was pushing him to beg forgiveness. He wanted to be a good soldier, and every fiber of his being was trying to tell him he needed Danzo's approval. His eyes watered and he looked to the ground. 

"Kinoe! Pull yourself together and help me end the reign of this blonde poser!"

The words were barely background noise to all the thoughts running through the young boy's head. He looked over at Kakashi, and saw mismatched eyes watching him carefully. His eyes may have been on alert, but his arms were down in a show of trust. Tenzo looked at Minato. The blonde offered him a reassuring smile, while continuing to watch Danzo for any sudden movements. 

Then he looked at Danzo. This man had ensured that he thought of himself as nothing more than a tool for his entire life. He groomed him into becoming the perfect soldier. But that was Kinoe. Tenzo had friends, he had a family. Maybe it wasn't his OWN family, but they had always made him feel welcome. He felt at home with them like he was supposed to be there from the very beginning. 

Tenzo slowly reached up and removed his porcelain mask. He looked at Danzo with anger boiling in his eyes. "My name isn't Kinoe!" He shouted, throwing the mask to the ground. "My name is Tenzo!" He yelled as he stomped the ROOT mask into pieces. Kakashi reached over and put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him the mask was well beyond repair and he could stop. His gaze flitted over to his friend to see his mask had been moved to the side of his head, and concern filled his eyes. 

Danzo was furious. He lashed out at Minato while the group was distracted at Tenzo's outburst. Minato lost his footing, and tumbled to the ground. Danzo was on him in a heartbeat. Tenzo raced forward, throwing hand signs out for mokuton. Danzo was lifted up from the ground by a wooden stake attached to the young boys arm. 

Blood spilled out of the old man's mouth as he tried to speak, but no words found their way out. Tenzo retracted his arm and dropped Danzo brutally to the ground. Kakashi was already standing over the shaking body, his lightning blade jutsu flaring from his hand as he sent it through Danzo's throat into the floor. 

Tenzo moved to check on Minato, who was now trying to stand. The shock of the boys killing Danzo so violently was blatant on his features as he walked over. The man had definitely been stabbed at least twice from what Tenzo could see on the blonde's blood soaked uniform. "Minato, you're hurt." He stated simply. Minato waved him off indifferently as the rest of the Anbu operatives moved around them, dragging captured enemies up to the main layer of the city. 

"It's finally over." Minato spoke quietly.


	6. The Aftermath

Tenzo sat in the hospital waiting room. With all the injured people from both sides, the staff were very busy. Tenzo's shoulder injury wasn't life threatening, so he had to wait until the worst cases had been taken care of. Kakashi waited silently in the chair next to him, with only a mild case of chakra exhaustion. They didn't speak. What could they say? Tenzo didn't exactly want to talk about what was going to happen now. His whole life was at the foundation. That was the only way he knew how to live. With the whole company being shut down, that was at least 100 displaced soldiers who didn't know how to operate within a normal society. Besides that, they no longer had a place to live. What was he going to do? 

He thought about learning to use the mokuton to build himself a small shack out in the clearing he used to train in. He tried not to spend too much time thinking about it though, because the thought of going and suddenly living out on his own scared him. He was used to missions and routine. What would his life be like now? Kakashi had mentioned earlier that he could transfer to Anbu, but Tenzo wasn't sure if that was a real offer or not. He stared absently at his hands, picking at his fingernails nervously. All the stress of leading a double life between the foundation and Kakashi's house had led him to developing this rather annoying habit. His nails were picked far too short, but he couldn't seem to stop himself. 

A large warm hand encased both of his small ones. He looked up to see Minato crouching down in front of his chair. His smile was reassuring as always, and Tenzo couldn't help giving him a small smile of his own in return. 

"Tenzo." Minato spoke hesitantly, pulling both of the boys hands closer to his chest. "I know you are worried about what is going to happen now. It's going to be okay. I have already talked to Kushina. I was wondering… would you like to come live with us? We have another bedroom available…" 

Tenzo could feel Kakashi perk up in the seat next to him. His deep brown eyes were wide as saucers as he looked to his friend. Kakashi was smiling brightly through his mask, and nodded to Tenzo for reassurance. Tenzo returned to Minato's deep blue eyes and found that he could no longer form any words. All his pent up worry exploded from him as he broke into an unexpected sob. Tears flowed freely down his face, and Minato moved in to trap him in a warm hug. "Why would you do that for me?" He managed to choke out.

Minato chuckled deeply. "Tenzo, we love you! Kushina and I view you as another son. We will do anything for you!"

Tenzo wound his arms around the Hokage's neck and latched on. Aside from Minato, he could feel Kakashi's hand rubbing circles over his shoulders. Tenzo nodded his acceptance. He no longer trusted his voice to form the words needed. 

~

The next week was a rush for Tenzo as he moved into Kakashi's house. His room was a far cry from what it had been at the foundation, and it took four days before he realized nothing was wrong when he woke up looking around his new room. His room was right in the middle of everything. If he left his room, Minato's door was directly across the hall, Kakashi's door was one down to the right, and the bathroom marked the end of the hallway to the left. 

The bed was exceptionally comfortable. Tenzo never knew you could get such good sleep from just changing the mattress. 

The ex-foundation operative found it difficult to adjust to a life of being looked after by adults. In the mornings, Kushina had breakfast ready when he woke. Minato always made sure to say his goodbyes to the whole house before heading off to his new office, and Tenzo was surprised the first day he knocked on his door. "Make sure you have a nice day Tenzo. See you tonight!" He piped in before taking off down the hallway. He sat there, dumbfounded that someone wanted to say goodbye to him at all. 

The privacy, that he could live with. He never had his own door, let alone a whole room to himself. And the bathroom? He was thrilled to be able to use a private shower. The adults had a bathroom in the master bedroom, so this one was "for the boys", as Kushina put it. He didn't have to fight for a stall or feel embarrassed about being naked in front of anyone. If he wanted alone time, he just had to go into his quiet, relaxing room. He loved having the time to think, and since Minato gave him 3 weeks to adjust to his new life before starting in Anbu, he had plenty of it to go around. He sat in his bed for several hours each day, staring at his ceiling. 

Kakashi had been away on a mission for 3 days. At first, Tenzo felt weird being here in the house without him. It's not so strange anymore, but he hates Kakashi being away. Without him, there really isn't much for Tenzo to do. He certainly wasn't going to hang out or spar with Kushina or the Hokage, and honestly walking around town by himself made him all too aware of the other kids his age staring at him like some stranger. 

He had attempted to talk to a couple of them. One, was a tall, skinny brunette girl with glowing red eyes. She was beautiful, and her eyes reminded him somewhat of Kakashi's. But the girl was wary of a random boy walking up to her, and she quickly disappeared into the crowded streets. The other kid was a boy. He was short, and looked tired. Tenzo found him interesting because he walked around with a Sen Senbon hanging out of his mouth. He wouldn't even say a word to Tenzo, just turned on his heel and went the opposite direction. Maybe he just wasn't cut out for making friends. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked back home. 

~

Minato came home from a fairly late night at work. His day was rough. With the official end of the foundation a week ago, the council and elders were in and out of his office all day with their concerns. Along with THAT nightmare, Minato was still sorting out professional placement and new homes for all the displaced operatives. Any under-age shinobi were being placed into homes with willing older ninja, at least until they adapted and chose to move out on their own. The older ones were a little tougher. He had acquired a large amount of multiple bedroom apartments, and they were working on getting all of them placed and assigning jonin to each group as a sort of mentor. Almost all of the ROOT members had been assigned mandatory reprogramming therapy. 

The only exception was Tenzo, and only because Minato was looking out for him personally. He had been shot some strange and confused looks when he told them the boy was already in his home, but he would not back down. The elders voiced concerns with the Hokage having a dangerous trouble-maker in his home, but after the most yelling Minato has ever done in his life, they dropped it. He already viewed Tenzo as his family. There was no way in hell he would sit back and let them talk about him like he was some sort of burden or menace. 

Minato rubbed his temples as he walked through the living room. He needed a drink. The older blonde moved to the kitchen to pull a bottle of sake and an empty glass from the cupboard. After pouring his drink, he closed his eyes and took a nice relaxing sip. He sat motionless for a few moments before something drew his attention. 

A noise. Talking? Minato wasn't sure. Leaving his drink in the kitchen, he moved to the hallway to listen more closely. It was quiet, rushed. Maybe even a little panicked. Kakashi wasn't home yet, so Minato moved towards Tenzo's doorway. The frantic whispering became much more clear from this distance. 

"No… don't… don't leave me here alone… let me out…"

Tenzo was having a nightmare, Minato realized. The dream didn't seem too violent, and he was left wondering if he should invade Tenzo's privacy to wake him. 

The question was answered for him shortly when the dream evidently worsened.

"NO… WAIT… DON'T TOUCH ME! IT HURTS! IT HUUUURTS!" Tenzo cried out much louder before breaking out into a blood curdling scream. 

Minato burst through the door, flipped on the light, and ran to the boy's bed. He gripped his shoulders and called to Tenzo. The boy continued screaming and flailing. He shook him violently until finally Tenzo's eyes flew open. The child gasped for air and sat up, pulling his arms into his midsection. Minato pulled him into a tight embrace. "It's okay Tenzo. You are safe, no one can hurt you anymore." He spoke softly while rubbing the poor boy's back. 

Minato felt awful. He knew the kid had been through unspeakable horrors before he even joined the foundation. The scars that were documented at the hospital were a confirmation of that, even without Lord Third's harrowing description of the lab that Tenzo had been brutalized in. There were needle sized scars littering the poor boy. His elbows, neck, and wrists were covered, but maybe worse were the larger, round wounds trailing down his spine. Minato can only imagine the pain this shaking boy had endured, especially if he took into account the painful shrieking only moments before. He gripped Tenzo tightly, one hand behind his head and one across his back. Tiny arms reached around him to return the hug. Minato rocked back and forth, Tenzo still shaking in his arms. "It's okay. You're okay. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again." The man repeated the phrase over and over until Tenzo finally calmed down. 

Minato pulled away slightly, looking down into tear filled brown eyes. He gave Tenzo a small smile as he looked him over. The boy hadn't managed to hurt himself in his thrashing. Tenzo pulled away the rest of the way and wiped his tears away. "Thank you, Minato. I'm sorry if I woke you."

Minato let out a small chuckle. Even after an awful nightmare, the boy was just too polite. He pulled Tenzo back in for one more hug before letting him go once more. "I had just gotten home. You don't ever need to worry about waking us though. It's worth waking up if it means helping you. Now try to get some sleep. Kakashi should be back tomorrow, and I'm sure he misses spending time with you."

Tenzo smiled slightly before nodding and laying back down. 

As Minato closed Tenzo's door, he turned to see Kushina leaning against the wall in the hallway. She flashed him a knowing smile, and reached out to wrap her arms around him before leading him to bed. 

~

Tenzo woke slowly. His nightmare had left him beyond sore. He groaned and stretched before picking himself up out of bed to get dressed. Opening his door, he turned left to use the restroom. He stopped abruptly when he heard Kakashi speaking to Minato and Kushina in the kitchen. Excitement filled his bones as he perked up and ran to the other room. Kakashi barely had time to look at him before Tenzo swept him into an enthusiastic hug. He felt Kakashi's laughter before letting him loose to smile at him. 

"I missed you too Tenzo." Kakashi said with a smile before reaching out to ruffle his brown hair. 

"Alright boys it's time to eat." Kushina announced, turning to them with a bright smile. In her arms were several plates piled high with pancakes. Tenzo smiled and licked his lips. Pancakes were definitely towards the top of his list, especially with maple syrup. "Thank you Kushina!" He shouted before moving to help her set the food on the table. 

The food was one of Tenzo's favorite things about his new life. Kushina was a great cook, and she always forced Tenzo to eat as much as he needed to, even when he was feeling guilty about reaching for seconds. 

At the foundation, he had never felt malnourished. The food was adequate for survival, and as far as he knew, that was all he needed. Now, he knew better. Even after just a week, he felt better than he ever had. He had more energy than ever, and was even putting on a little weight. He was growing, as all teenagers do, and he secretly hoped that the awful nutrition of the foundation hadn't permanently stunted his growth. 

~ 

Tenzo and Kakashi had spent the entire day wandering around town. It was nice. Before, Tenzo had to worry about being noticed or recognized by someone from the foundation. Now, he was able to laugh, and smile when Kakashi would get into a shoving match with him, and when he 'accidentally' pushed Kakashi a little too hard and he flew into a nearby bush. He was allowed to giggle incessantly as he ran from Kakashi, bits of leaves and branches poking through silver hair, all while vendors and civilians watched on. 

The entire shinobi population knew the foundation had been destroyed, and that its members were integrated into society, but nobody knew atenzo was one of them. He had an added bonus that a bunch of people had seen him with Kakashi before and assumed that he was a regular ninja. After all, no foundation ninja would be able to hang out with Kakashi like that, would they? Even if they did guess he was former ROOT, he doubted they would say anything to him given his relationship with the current Hokage and Kakashi. 

That night, as he lay in bed, he realized this was what being truly happy must feel like. He finally had a family of his own. He fully believed they would do anything for him, not that he ever intended to ask them for anything. 

Tenzo sat up. He felt… something. A flicker. A disturbance in someone's chakra. Kakashi's? He closed his eyes and reached his own chakra out. He didn't feel anything strange now. Still, it was weird. He climbed out of bed and opened his door. Leaning out into the hallway, he saw nothing. From the kitchen he could hear the sink running, so he went to investigate. Wearing green pajama pants and a white shirt, he padded down the hallway and paused when the kitchen came into view. 

Kakashi was at the sink, furiously scrubbing his hands under the water. At first glance, it seemed normal. Upon closer inspection, Tenzo was sure something was wrong. He seemed… frantic. Tenzo slowly walked up behind him, stopping a few feet away when he started to hear Kakashi's murmuring. 

"It won't come off… why won't it come off… I'm so sorry Rin… I didn't mean to."

"Kakashi?" Tenzo called out quietly. Kakashi wasn't wearing his mask, and Tenzo had never seen him without it before. The mask was just part of who Kakashi was, and Tenzo hadn't even thought about what he might look like without it. He shouldn't be surprised. It was silly to think that Kakashi would sleep with it on, and Tenzo shook his head to refocus on the task at hand.

"So much blood…" Kakashi said, continuing on with his rambling. Tenzo was unsure if Kakashi was even aware of what he was doing, but started worrying when he saw Kakashi was rubbing the skin off of his hands. He stepped forward, putting his hand on the other boy's shoulder and pulling him away from the sink. 

"Kakashi! You need to wake up. The skin is coming off of your hands. There's no more blood." He looked into Kakashi's fearful eyes and placed his free hand on the other shoulder. Awareness creeped back into his eyes, one steel gray and one bright red. Tenzo reached up, covering the sharingan. "You need to keep that eye closed." He said. Kakashi looked at him and nodded slowly. Tenzo noticed the other boy shaking, and pulled him into a hug. 

"Come on, let's get you back to bed." He said softly, turning Kakashi and leading him back to the hallway. He looked up to see Minato sitting at the kitchen table, concern and understanding in his eyes. He didn't look surprised or confused, leading Tenzo to believe maybe this wasn't the first time Kakashi had tried to scrub Rin's non-existent blood from his hands. Minato nodded his approval, and gave Tenzo a small smile. He walked past the two boys, giving Tenzo a small pat on the shoulder as he went, and returned to his own room. He trusted Tenzo to take care of Kakashi. Kakashi didn't react to Minato's presence, leading Tenzo to wonder how aware he was of what was happening. 

He lead them back to Kakashi's room, shutting the door behind them before returning the pale boy to his bed. Kakashi was cold, sweaty, and possibly had even less color than usual. Since his skin was so pale normally, it was hard to say honestly. Tenzo sat on the bed with him, hugging him. As Kakashi finally gained the rest of his awareness, he hugged Tenzo back. Tenzo cradled him to his chest and repeated Minato's actions from the night before. He rocked the other boy back and forth, speaking soft reassurances into unruly silver hair. 

Kakashi pulled back. "Thank you, Tenzo." He said looking at the ground. Tenzo, feeling as if he may be too far into Kakashi's personal space, made a move to stand up, but was stopped by Kakashi's hand, red and raw, grabbing his arm. 

"Wait, Tenzo. Please. Can you… can you stay in here tonight?" He spoke nervously. Tenzo looked into his face, finally able to really see Kakashi's emotions displayed across his bare face. He was afraid. Afraid of being alone, and the nightmares coming back. Tenzo nodded, not sure what to do. Kakashi laid back on his bed, pushed the covers down and moved over by the wall, facing it. Tenzo caught on and laid on the other side of the bed, facing the door. Kakashi pulled the covers up over them as Tenzo lay there in thought. 

~

Minato crept across the hallway to Kakashi's door. He knew Tenzo had handled it, but he still felt a need to check on the boy. Kakashi meant the world to him, and there was nothing he could do to keep his nightmares at bay. There were times where he didnt make it to the kitchen in time, and Kakashi rubbed holes into his hands. Patching up a shaking child's bloody hands in the bathroom was not how he enjoyed spending his night. He opened the door as quietly as any ninja should be able to, and peeked into the young boys room. He was a little surprised to see Tenzo and Kakashi both in the bed, fast asleep with their backs to each other. He smiled to himself, happy that both boys had each other to look to when they needed it. Minato shut the door and returned to his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got stuck partway through chapter 12 for this fic, so I took a break and wrote a different short story that is a soulmate AU. Go check it out if you want, I'm curious what anyone thinks. I'm continuing with this story though for sure.


	7. Back To Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tenzo officially joins Anbu

Tenzo got dressed. Today was his first day back to work, and it was time to get serious. He knew Anbu wasn't that far off from the foundation when it came to missions. If he didn't have his head on straight, he would be killed or get someone else killed. At 13, he knew he was young for Anbu. Kakashi had managed for a while now though, so he knew it would be fine. If he was old enough for ROOT he was certainly old enough for Anbu. 

The uniform was different. His sleeveless black undershirt and flak jacket certainly provided him with a large range of motion. The neck went high, up over the base of his chin. He slid his face guard back over his head for the first time since the foundation collapsed. He looked at himself in the mirror. The uniform Kakashi had brought for him the night before fit him perfectly. He wouldn't get his mask until he went in to work, and he was curious what it would look like. He also wondered who would be on his new team. Kakashi had informed him that things weren't going quite as smoothly as it should be, with integrating Root into Anbu. There was some animosity coming from some on the Anbu side, and lots of distrust from the Root side. Each team had been given one Root member. Some had forgone their 3 week leave and started early, but Minato insisted that Tenzo take the full time off, so he was part of the very last group coming in today. 

Tenzo left his face blank as he waited in line to retrieve his mask. There were several people here who he had recognized from the foundation. They were silent, and plenty of regular Anbu walking by were staring at them. Tenzo knew he was the youngest, knew he was the smallest, and he just hoped he didn't get stuck with a shitty team. He made it to the counter for his mask. "Name?" "Tenzo." 

He was quickly handed a mask from behind the counter, and he shuffled away before looking at it. Root members were nothing if not efficient at moving through a line. No unnecessary words were exchanged, and no prolonged waiting or arguing. He looked down at his mask. It was a cat style mask with green and red stripes on it. He wasn't sure how he felt having a similar mask to his previous one, but he was slightly amused that Kakashi and him had sort of a theme going. 

After going through another line, he received his team name. He was team Ro. Kakashi had not given him any specific information on the teams, so he wasn't sure who it was. However, he knew that once he went to the locker room his captain would come looking for him, so he made his way over, placing his new mask over his face. 

Tenzo passed several people on his way there without problems. But as soon as he entered the locker room, things went awry. He suddenly found himself being thrown up against a locker. 

"You sure are a pipsqueak! I hope you aren't on my team. It would not end well for you! You're just some Root garbage, no one would miss you." 

Well, so far so good. Tenzo looked up at the asshole that shoved him, eyes blank. He was far too good at keeping his cool for something like this to bother him. The man was huge, and wearing a bear mask. Ironic, he thought. The bear man moved closer, and spoke again. 

"Maybe you didn't hear me, you little freak. If you end up on my team you better watch your tiny pathetic back because I can't be held accountable for my actions." The man was raising his arm, ready to strike as he moved even closer. Tenzo stayed perfectly still and continued to stare. He felt the air in the room change to something that felt almost murderous, yet also recognizable. The eyes behind the bear mask widened before the man turned his head to the left. Tenzo took the risk and turned too. Standing there, mask on, sharingan open, was Kakashi. Even through the mask his anger was palpable in the air. 

"Bear. Just what is it you think you are doing with my subordinate?" He spoke coolly, despite the angry aura he had filled the room with. His gaze was intimidating, and if Tenzo hadn't known him beforehand, his presence would have been very frightening. How someone his age could manage that, he wasn't sure, but he was thankful Kakashi showed up when he did. And what's more, he called Tenzo his subordinate. Were they to be on the same team?

Bear stumbled over his own words. "I… uh… I was just…" he held his hands up defensively as he was speaking, and Tenzo took his chance to drive the nail in this man's coffin, regardless of if it was petty or not. 

He looked to Bear and spoke, voice calm and unwavering. "I believe we were discussing that if I was on your team, you wouldn't be held accountable for your actions." 

The man in the bear mask stared at Tenzo in shock before looking back to Kakashi. 

"Yes, Cat, that's what I heard as well." Kakashi spoke to tenzo for the first time. "Bear." He said, turning back to the human garbage in the room with them. "I'm not going to report this to the Hokage THIS time, but you can bet your captain will hear of it. And one more thing."

Kakashi took a couple steps towards Bear before finishing his thought in a threatening whisper. "If you threaten or touch anyone on my team again, especially this one, I will end you. Understood?" 

"Y-yes sir!" Bear practically shouted before hastily retreating out of the locker room. The air cleared, and Kakashi's chakra fell back to it's normal electrifying signature. Tenzo looked at him. "Captain, that's a neat trick. You may have to teach me that one." Kakashi looked back at him and removed his mask, revealing his normal fabric mask and a pair of eyes crinkled in a smile. "I just might if you're gonna let all these bigger guys pick on you. I almost didn't announce myself. Would've been funny if you had kicked his ass on your first day." He spoke, laughing at the last bit. "Come on, I'm supposed to take you to get your tattoo."

As they walked, Tenzo noticed the other members of Anbu walking as far away from them as humanly possible. News of the confrontation with Bear couldn't have traveled that fast, and even if it had, was it really worth this kind of reaction? No, it had to be something else. "Captain?" He asked, looking over at his friend. "Mmm?" Kakashi answered simply, eyes staying forward. "Is there a… particular reason everyone in the building is acting like we have the plague?" He questioned, trying to stay as professional as possible.

Kakashi let out an audible sigh before answering. "Well, most people have learned in my time here that me being small doesn't mean I can't hack it. My first couple months here, they tried treating me just like that guy did to you back there in the lockers. I didn't just remain cool like you did though. I challenged anyone who believed me unfit. And I put three out of eight challengers out of commission forever. The other five only had to go to the hospital. Some of the older ones still try to stand up to me, but it doesn't last long. And now, there's two of us." Kakashi finished his explanation, opening his sharingan only so he could wink at him. Tenzo had to fight to hide the chuckle that bubbled up before looking away. "That explains it then." Was all he said. Tenzo wondered if Kakashi would have more challengers again now that the ex-Root members were here. He knew from experience that a lot of them didn't accept younger authority. 

Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, he allowed himself a small giddy smile behind his mask at the thought that him and Kakashi would be on a team. That was definitely Minato's doing, without a doubt. Good thing, too, seeing as how Kakashi was probably the only captain that wouldn't underestimate him because he was small. It was also a smart move because they obviously worked well together, if their fight at the foundation was any clue. Tenzo would be able to make a seamless transition into Kakashi's team regardless of who the third person was. 

~

After taking Tenzo to receive his tattoo, Kakashi lead him out to the training grounds. They wouldn't receive a mission right away so they had time to train together. They didn't necessarily need it, but it was standard procedure with new recruits. Kakashi hadn't been sure how his morning would go with Tenzo. He liked to remain professional when other people were around, and was more than relieved to see Tenzo acting the same way. He also was very private with the other Anbu. Most weren't even aware he was adopted by the Hokage. He wondered how long it would take them to find out he and Tenzo were affiliated outside of work. The only good thing about that info getting out was that it couldn't force them to separate them from the same team. 

Obviously Minato already knew they lived together and were friends, and he trusted them to act professional. In his heart, he was thankful Tenzo ended up on his team. The little mokuton user could handle himself, without a doubt, but Kakashi didn't trust anyone else to watch Tenzo's back, or his own, for that matter.

As they approached the training fields, Kakashi looked around to see who was out there. Several groups of people were sparring. Not surprising, with the last of the foundation members joining today. He looked to their right, spotting Bear eyeing them nervously. He looked to Tenzo, who had followed his vision. "You want to settle this?" He asked his friend. Tenzo gave a quick nod, and started lightly stretching. 

Kakashi turned his view back to Bear, who was still watching intently, and motioned with a nod for him to walk over. He clearly hesitated before slowly making his way over. 

"Bear, you wanna spar? I feel like watching my kohai kick your ass." He spoke in a calm voice, smooth as velvet. 

Bear was surprised, even through the mask Kakashi could see that. "Uh… you sure that's a good idea? This kid is kinda small. I don't want to hurt him. We haven't even seen what he can do." He replied, placing a hand on the back of his neck nervously.

"Who says I don't know what he can do? I don't think we will have to worry about you hurting him." Kakashi replied confidently. He looked back over to Tenzo, who had finished stretching and was watching his captain, waiting for the order. "Cat, make it quick. I want to go home early today." He spoke as he turned and walked to the sidelines. Tenzo and Bear centered themselves in the field before Bear spoke again. "Look, I'm not gonna have Kakashi pissed at me because I hurt some kid."

Tenzo kept his eyes empty, but cocked his head sideways like a dog. "You shouldn't go easy on me. I won't be going easy on you, and I wouldn't want to embarrass you too badly."

Bear pulled out a Kunai and hucked it Tenzo's direction. Tenzo barely shifted, evading the blade with ease. He swiftly threw up a couple hand signs and slammed his palms to the dirt. "Earth style: spike wave!" He called out as the ground erupted in front of him into deadly spikes. Bear jumped back, narrowly missing the attack, only to have Tenzo manipulate it with his chakra to follow him into the turn. Bear's eyes went wide as he frantically dodged, launching another kunai at Tenzo. 

Tenzo rolled to his left, landing back on his feet, before throwing another set of hand signs. "Water style: water dragon jutsu!"   
Bear was breathing heavy already, and he was clearly shocked by the size of the jutsu created without any water nearby. The large liquid dragon attacked relentlessly, knocking Bear's legs out from under him, and he rolled into the dirt. Tenzo wasn't sure if he was supposed to use the mokuton. So many years of being forced to hide it from the general public had confused him. He dropped the water dragon jutsu and looked to his captain standing on the sidelines, arms crossed over his chest. Kakashi must've known he wasn't sure about his wood style because he gave him a knowing nod. 

Tenzo turned back to Bear, who was rolling in pain on the ground. He he raised his hands back up for his final jutsu. "Mokuton!" He called out as wooden tendrils sprang from the dirt and wrapped around the writhing man on the ground. He was hoisted into the air, and Tenzo moved his hands slightly, causing the tendrils to start squeezing their victim. 

"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! I YIELD! I YIELD!" Bear cried. Tenzo promptly released his jutsu, dropping Bear to the ground. He looked up, seeing every Anbu in the area had been watching the battle. Bear yelled at him from the ground. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" He climbed up to his feet, staring Tenzo in the face. 

Kakashi popped up abruptly, causing bear to jump. Tenzo didn't react, as he could feel Kakashi's chakra moving from across the field. 

"Looks like my kohai just kicked your ass." He said calmly. "Not surprising. He is pretty talented. We spar all the time." Bear looked confused at the statement. Then looked to Tenzo. "Do you two know each other or something? I thought you just met today." 

Kakashi ignored the question, and Tenzo remained quiet, allowing his captain to lead the conversation. "You should know better than to judge someone by their size now." Kakashi replied, turning his head sideways like Tenzo had earlier. Both boys turned at the same time to walk away, leaving many confused witnesses in their wake. 

~

The boys spent most of the day wandering around, and by the time they made it home it was about dinner time. Kushina had made roasted chicken and mashed potatoes, and Kakashi was excited for it. He pulled down his mask, leaving it attached in case someone shows up. They had just sat down to eat when Minato came home from work and sat at the table. "So boys, how did the first day go?" The blonde spoke with a smile on his face. 

"It was good!" Tenzo said with a bright smile before shoving some potatoes in his mouth.

"Oh… is that right?" Minato spoke slowly. 

Tenzo had never been in trouble before, but Kakashi has, and he knows when Minato has something he isn't saying. He narrows his eyes, making eye contact with the older man across the table. "Why." Kakashi cuts in, short and suspicious of what Minato is trying to bait them into saying. 

Tenzo pauses in his eating, clearly picking up on the tension in the room, and looks between the two. 

Kushina continues eating but is listening intently. She knows better than to interfere when those two are like this. 

Minato brings his arms up on the table and interlocks his fingers. "Oscar came to visit me today. Have anything to say about that?" 

Tenzo looks to Kakashi. "Oscar? Who's Oscar?"

"Oscar," Kakashi says, pausing to look to his kohai, "is Bear's name." 

Tenzo's eyes go wide. He obviously thinks he's done something wrong and confirms Kakashi's thoughts immediately when he turns to Minato. 

"Am I in trouble?" He asks tentatively across the table. 

"I don't know yet, Tenzo. Kakashi? Anything to say on the matter?" Minato spoke seriously. 

"That depends. What did he tell you? And am I talking to 'dad' Minato or 'Hokage' Minato?" Kakashi drawled out, voice as calm as ever. He knew he had him. All he had to do was slightly refer to Minato as 'dad' and he would buckle. It wouldn't matter the security level of the info, if Kakashi called him 'dad', he could learn anything he wanted. Minato was aware of it, he knew it. Still though, he allowed Kakashi to manipulate him in this way, and it amused him to no end. 

Minato rolled his eyes, "I suppose I have to say I'm asking as 'dad' Minato." He sighed as he removed his hands from the table. "Oscar came in to my office today. He claims that you threatened him for no reason in the locker rooms, and that you sent your new subordinate after him to attack him when his back was turned. He claims that you two are 'creepy', and dangerous. He says you act like twins, and that 'the cat kid' is conspiring with you." Minato delivers the insane tale without a smile on his face, even though Kakashi knows he wouldn't buy that for a minute. 

Kakashi looked to Tenzo, who was staring at Minato with his jaw hanging low.

"And did you laugh in his face?" Kakashi asked, a slight smirk on his bare face. 

Kushina snickered on her side of the table, and Minato shot her a smile before continuing. "Well, basically, I told him I knew both of you personally, and that if he wanted to continue being a ninja, he wouldn't bother me with fake crap like that ever again. And I warned him that trying to get his fellow shinobi in trouble for something they didn't do was immoral. Then I kicked him out of my office." He looked at Kakashi expectantly, "So, tell me what really happened."

All eyes were on Kakashi then, and he fiddled with his mashed potatoes before answering. He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I guess it wasn't ALL a lie. I DID threaten him. Just a little." He flashed his eyes over to Tenzo, whose frightened eyes told Kakashi he thought they were gonna be in trouble. Kakashi knew better. Once Minato said he wasn't playing 'Hokage', he wouldn't punish Kakashi for what he was told, so long as it wasn't illegal. 

When he looked back to Minato, his eyes were narrowed, but he would wait until Kakashi was done with his explanation. 

"I walked into the locker room to pick up Tenzo, and saw Oscar shove him into the lockers. He threatened Tenzo, and said that if he was on his team he wouldn't be responsible for his actions. I stepped in, naturally. Told him not to touch my teammate, and that if he ever did it again I would end him." He shrugged his shoulder again at the end of his sentence. He didn't think it was that big of a deal to stand up for a teammate in that situation, so he continued. "Then, we were at the training grounds, and in an effort to settle the dispute once and for all, I asked Oscar if he wanted to spar with Tenzo. And he agreed. And Tenzo kicked his ass. Easily." He chuckled before looking over to Tenzo, who was finally smiling as well. 

Minato laughed lightly, clearly amused by Bear being such a sore loser that he reported them to the Hokage. 

"Oscar is a big guy, Tenzo. You really made him look so bad that he reported you to the Hokage?" Minato questioned.

Tenzo blushed. Kakashi knew he was confident in his skills, but he was still very modest. He lowered his head to the table and was stirring his mashed potatoes with his fork, and shrugged his shoulders. Kakashi couldn't contain the snort at how ridiculously embarrassed Tenzo was, and he put his hand over the lower half of his face. Tenzo reached over and slapped Kakashi's arm, causing the silver-haired boy to bust out laughing. 

When Kakashi was able to gain his composure, he looked to Minato. The man was smiling brightly, clearly amused by the interaction between the boys. "Tenzo moved so fast, Bear barely had time to throw two kunai. Which, I'm proud to say my little kohai here dodged easily." He spoke, placing an arm on Tenzo's shoulder and giving him an approving shake. "Tenzo used all three of his jutsu styles in like a minute long span and took Bear down a peg for sure." He smiled at Minato as he spoke. "Oh! I forgot to ask. Tenzo? What did he say to you before you guys went at it?"

Tenzo swallowed his bite of chicken nervously before answering. "Well… he told me he didn't want Kakashi mad at him for beating me up. And I told him not to take it easy on me because I wouldn't be easy on him. Then he just attacked me." Tenzo said with a shrug. 

The whole table broke into a round of laughter. Kakashi's family had never felt more complete now that Tenzo was here. Even with all the loss he has had recently, he has gained so much more than that with his family. As they all smiled and laughed and talked about their day, Kakashi realized his heart couldn't be any more full.


	8. Hawk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tenzo and Kakashi go on their first Anbu mission together

Today was Tenzo's first mission. The two boys and one alternate team member met at the front gate at dawn. Kakashi had told Tenzo on the walk over about their alternate. They didn't have a permanent third on their team, so they were stuck with Hawk for this mission. He was bigger and older than both of them, and according to Kakashi, he didn't handle being bossed around by a 13 year old boy very well. Hawk and Kakashi did not get along one bit, and the only other mission they had been on together was a disaster. Kakashi managed to save the mission from being unsuccessful, but just barely. When Kakashi had reported the jerk for his actions on the mission, the leader over the Anbu never even talked to the man about it. 

This time, at least Tenzo knew he would be there to watch Kakashi's back. As they rounded the corner and the gates came into view, Tenzo saw the tall man, and could tell immediately this wasn't going to be good. 

The man was standing stiffly, arms crossed over his chest. His grumpy demeanor clearly showing just the way he practically glared at the duo as they walked up. Tenzo knew if he didn't like Kakashi, there was no chance of them getting along. The two boys may have been the same age, but Kakashi was a couple inches taller, making Tenzo look even younger than he was. The closer they got, the more obvious it was that Hawk was sizing Tenzo up, and he wasn't pleased. "Who is the kid? Is he even qualified to be on this mission? Or are we borrowing him from the preschool."

Tenzo knew it was far too early in the morning for Kakashi to dignify that with a response, and trusted his captain to smooth the conversation over into another subject. 

Kakashi simply ignored the man. "Hawk, take the rear. Cat, up front with me." Was all he said before the two younger boys leapt to the trees. An annoyed huff was heard behind them as they went, before the gravel moved to signal the other finally following them. Tenzo and Kakashi shared a knowing glance. This was going to be a rough mission. 

The mission they were handed was routine. Get in, get the information, only kill the guards if you are spotted. These types of missions were constant, along with assassinations. It should be easy for their team, but Tenzo wasn't sure whether Hawk was gonna cause problems or not. Their journey would take a little over a day to get there, so they stopped at nightfall to set up camp, an hour away from the border. Kakashi started a small fire while Tenzo was setting up his sleeping pad. As the boys moved about setting up camp, Tenzo felt eyes on him almost constantly. Hawk was watching him. He didn't spare the older man a glance as he prepared his bed, then dug his summoning scroll out of his bag to get out his dinner supplies. 

When Tenzo finally looked across the fire pit, Hawk was already cooking his food over the fire. Good. Tenzo wouldn't feel obligated to offer the man any of the soup he was going to make. Tenzo summoned the supplies; a small pot, a ladle, two bowls, two spoons, soup mix, and a large bottle of water. He measured out two servings of soup and added the amount of water needed and began cooking. The camp was silent, two boys on one side of the flames, and one man across the way. Kakashi and Tenzo weren't bothered by silence. They were comfortable together as a team and didn't feel the need to fill the air with small talk. 

They weren't concerned with the older person judging them constantly behind a wall of hazy smoke. The man could think all he wanted, and his opinions wouldn't effect either boy. He was a temporary edition, just one of many rotating faces that would fill the background of what was really a two-person team. The two needed no verbal confirmations for movement. Tenzo could tell in an instant when Kakashi was going to move by the small twitch in his hands before take-off, a motion that went unnoticed by anyone else. He could see when his captain heard a strange sound while running through the trees by the small tilting motion his head made while trying to listen closely, another invisible cue only Tenzo could follow. The subtle bracing of the boy's shoulders told Tenzo when to stop, and all these clues together gave the illusion of fluid uniformity. Their timing was seamless, and Tenzo knew without a doubt that if the roles were reversed and he was the captain, Kakashi could read the cues and mirror him as well. 

Furthermore, Tenzo was in tune with Kakashi's chakra, making it nearly impossible for the boy to surprise him. So when Kakashi silently padded up behind Tenzo's right shoulder, the brunette absentmindedly handed a bowl of soup up and over his shoulder before serving up a bowl for himself. 

They knew it must be unsettling for others, seeing two seemingly unrelated people using such perfectly tandem movements around each other as if they shared a hive mind. And, by the judgmental scoff they heard across the open flames, Hawk had noticed it too. 

Whether he was judging their movements, or just the fact that Tenzo automatically made his captain food, they didn't know. The boys continued to ignore him, and when Tenzo leapt up into the trees to take first watch, another disproving grunt was heard from the man across their camp as Kakashi set up his bed only a couple feet away from Tenzo's. 

~

Kakashi felt the eyes on him as he lay in his bed. Hawk was watching him from the trees while he had taken second watch. Tenzo had just settled down, and Kakashi felt he could finally get some sleep. The judgement radiated strongly from the masked man in the distance, but Tenzo and Kakashi both knew why they had their beds so close. It was sort of an unspoken agreement between the two, and even as this was their first mission together, Kakashi knew that Tenzo understood the reasonings. 

Back when Kakashi had returned from his first long mission after Tenzo moved in, he witnessed Tenzo's nightmares for the first time. Tenzo had helped him through a similar situation just days earlier, and when Kakashi felt a disturbance coming from Tenzo's room, he had a hunch. When he jumped up and strolled down the hall to Tenzo's room, he was almost surprised to bump into Minato heading the same way. The two shared a look before Minato moved forward and opened the door. 

When Kakashi had stepped inside Tenzo's new room, he was greeted with the unwelcome sight of his friend rolling around restlessly, shaking and sweaty. The smaller boy mumbled incoherently in his sleep, and as Minato approached the bed the mumbling evolved into shrieks of pure terror and pain. Kakashi froze. He had never seen anything like it. His eyes were wide and his hands were trembling, and his brain couldn't tell him what to do. His mind jump-started as Minato shook the poor boy awake, and his small feet moved towards the occupied bed. 

The night had ended with Kakashi sleeping in Tenzo's bed in the same way Tenzo had slept in his a couple nights prior, with Tenzo huddled against the wall and Kakashi on the edge facing away. After that incident, the boys had taken to sharing a bed if one or both of them were thinking of the past, or if the other had a nightmare. Kakashi knew if he couldn't keep his mind off of Obito and Rin, he could climb into Tenzo's bed, no questions asked, and prevent himself from having a nightmare. The bad dreams wouldn't reach him when his friend was near.

Kakashi has had nightmares on missions before, but since his dreams didn't cause him to cry out in his sleep, they managed to go unnoticed. However, Kakashi had decided to never risk another nightmare with strangers around by keeping his bed near Tenzo's. It was appreciated on both sides, and whether the gratitude was voiced or not, they both knew. 

Kakashi and his team moved again in the morning. They stopped in the trees when they were finally in view of their target. The smaller gray building sat in a clearing, with several guards roaming about. There would be more inside, no doubt, but the goal was to leave them alive. He turned back to look at his team and pulled out a small map.

"Alright, this is what we will do. Hawk, you will circle around to the front of the building and conceal yourself. I will stay on this side. Cat, you go around the far side here, and enter in through this window. The room with the documents should be right across the hallway. If you run into any trouble, Hawk and I will step in, until then," he paused, making eye contact with Hawk, "Hawk and I will stay back."

As he predicted, the older man voiced his concerns immediately. "You are gonna leave this mission up to the twerp here?" He violently whispered while gesturing to Tenzo. 

"Cat is an excellent infiltrator. He will do just fine. If you move before you are given a signal, you will put all of our lives in danger. Is that clear?" Kakashi retorted, agitation seeping through his words. Hawk merely grumbled and took off to his position on the front side of the house. 

Kakashi turned to Tenzo, who was waiting to be dismissed. "Be careful, Tenzo." 

After a brief nod, Tenzo disappeared. 

Kakashi opened his left eye and watched for Tenzo to cross to the other end of the house. He knew the other boy could handle this, but his nerves were still nagging at him. When he could tell the brunette was already in the building, he relaxed his muscles a little bit. 

The moment didn't last long, because loud booming caught his attention from the front of the house as Hawk had taken it upon himself to alert every guard on the property to their presence. Kakashi leapt forward with no time to spare as he made a beeline for the house. Tenzo would be in danger now that the enemy was informed of their mission. 

Kakashi approached the building, cutting through two guards with his chidori on the way. His heart was thudding in his chest as red trickled into his vision. He reached the side of the house just in time to see Tenzo roll himself gracelessly out of the window onto the ground. The boy had two kunai sticking out of his side and another in the back of his upper leg. The blood left Kakashi's face as he reached down for his kohai. He pulled Tenzo up against the wall while watching for more enemies. "Tenzo are you alright?"

Tenzo's breathing was forced, but he managed an answer. "I will live, but I don't know if I can walk. What happened?"

Kakashi clenched his jaw, suddenly remembering the reason they were in this mess to begin with. "Hawk." He grunted out. "I will be back in a moment." 

Tenzo nodded and lowered himself to the ground against the wall, keeping his left leg propped up so he didn't push the kunai in any further.

Kakashi rounded the front corner of the house to see Hawk and two enemies battling. He activated his chidori again and caught the first one by surprise, putting a hole through his chest. His blood boiled, his hands shook, and he had a hard time keeping his rising anger out of his chakra aura. He knew he had failed, because after Hawk took down the last enemy, he put his hands up and frantically backed away. Kakashi's violent intent radiated off him in waves as he traced Hawks steps, closing the distance before launching a chakra infused fist into the man's mask. The porcelain cracked as the older man's body launched into a nearby tree. 

Kakashi watched the man slowly and painfully pick himself up off the ground. 

"Clean this up. Get all the information here. There will be no trace of our presence here when you are done. I have a wounded comrade to attend to." Kakashi growled out as he turned his back to the person who almost got his best friend killed. 

Kakashi returned to Tenzo's side. He was attempting to pull the second kunai out of his left side, the other lying bloody on the ground. He cried out as the cold steel released its hold on him. All the anger in Kakashi's body was replaced with fear as he looked down at the bleeding boy. 

"Tenzo. Let me see." He spoke softly as he leaned down, moving Tenzo's small hands from clutching his shaking side. No organs were hit, but the bleeding wasn't good. "I'll keep pressure on this and try to stop the bleeding. You pull the other one out of your leg." He placed gloved hands to Tenzo's bleeding side, causing Tenzo to once again cry out in pain. Kakashi didn't know a lot of medical ninjutsu, but he knew enough to help stop the bleeding. He did what he could with the chakra he had left while Tenzo pulled the blade out of his leg. Kakashi wrapped the hole in his leg as quickly as he could to stop the bleeding. He breathed a sigh of relief. Tenzo would be okay. He still needed medical attention, but he would make it just fine. He took his mask off to offer Tenzo a reassuring smile, and placed a hand on his shoulder as the latter sat shaking on the ground. 

Hawk rounded the corner slowly, with the intention of not pissing his captain off even more. Kakashi turned to glare at the older man, then removed his hand from Tenzo's shoulder. "I trust you followed orders this time?" 

Hawk nodded slowly. "Everything is clean. Cat had somehow killed everyone inside and taken the intel."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. Somehow? There was no somehow about it. Tenzo had skills beyond anything this man would ever have, and it bothered Kakashi to his core to have them dismissed as happenstance. "SOMEHOW!? Cat killed them all because he is an excellent shinobi! YOU almost got him killed!" He stood, and held a hand out to help Tenzo off the ground. His friend stood, but on a leg that was obviously not able to walk. Kakashi leaned down slightly, a silent cue to Tenzo that he was sure to recognize from all their training together. He did, and the brunette climbed onto Kakashi's back, arms wrapping around his shoulders. Hawk's eyes narrowed slightly. "Maybe I should carry him. I'm bigger, and it's my fault he is injured, so it should be my burden. 

Kakashi scoffed. Taking care of Tenzo was no burden. He didn't look at Hawk again. He took off to the trees. It was time to go home. Hawk could follow him or not, he no longer cared. 

Kakashi set a grueling pace back to the village. Hawk's presence behind them was barely noticeable, as he was having a hard time keeping up as they moved straight through the night. Kakashi arrived at the gates at five in the morning. As he entered, he felt Tenzo's grip on his shoulders release. Kakashi looked back over his shoulder. Tenzo had passed out. His leg wound must've opened back up during the trip. He swung Tenzo around to the front of his body, one arm under his legs and the other behind his back. He felt Hawk drop down behind him, but he just stared down at the unconscious body in his arms. "Go home. I will report." He spoke quickly, failing to hide the panic in his voice. He pulled Tenzo to his chest tightly and sprinted to the hospital. 

~

Kakashi sat in the chair next to Tenzo's hospital bed. Nurses shot him strange glances as they came and went, as he was covered in blood and dirt from the mission. Some of it was from the enemies he killed, but the rest, including the large red trail running down his side, was Tenzo's. His report could wait, though he had a feeling that it wouldn't be long before he saw Minato. 

As if reading his mind, the door to the small room opened. Minato walked in briskly, moving to the bedside. He glanced over the injuries, and placed a warm hand on Tenzo's forehead. Satisfied that the injuries weren't severe, he moved around to Kakashi's side of the bed, stopping when he noticed all the blood on Kakashi's clothes. "Are you hurt?" He asked quietly.

Kakashi looked down at his clothes, he must be a sight for sure. "No. This is mostly Tenzo's blood, to be honest." He answered with a shrug, looking down at his blood covered hands. 

"What happened?" Minato asked curiously. 

Kakashi began his report. He made sure not to leave out any details so Minato would know that Hawk was incompatible with their team. 

"I see." Minato said plainly when he was done. "I will deal with Hawk. Aside from that, it sounds like Tenzo did well on his first mission. You two will have a couple days off for recovery since you look a step away from chakra exhaustion." He smiled at the silver haired ninja as he spoke. "Now, go home." Kakashi looked at him, a question in his eyes. "Don't worry. I'm going to speak with the nurses and bring him home. I don't think he needs to stay here. Get ready because I'm guessing once the medicine wears off he's gonna be staying in your room." He spoke with a chuckle. He smiled down at Kakashi and reached out to ruffle his hair, much like Kakashi always does to Tenzo. Hmm. Maybe that's where I got that from, he thinks, smiling as he jumps out the window. 

Later, when Minato places Tenzo in Kakashi's bed, Tenzo curls up against the wall as usual. However, when Kakashi crawls into bed next to him, he falls asleep watching Tenzo's back move with his every breath.


	9. The Lab

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tenzo meets some new friends, and the boys are tasked to investigate an abandoned lab.

Kakashi woke the next morning facing the bare wall. He realized Tenzo wasn't in bed anymore and jumped up, throwing the blankets to the floor. He ran out of his bedroom and down the hallway, searching for his friend. 

"KAKASHI HATAKE WHY ARE YOU RUNNING IN THE HOUSE?!" 

Kakashi ducked instinctively and turned to see Kushina, red in the face and snarling, sitting at the table with a snickering Tenzo. "S-sorry Kushina, I just got worried when Tenzo wasn't in bed." He shared sheepishly. He rubbed the back of his neck as a warm blush covered the bottom of his face. 

"Sempai, it's almost eleven o'clock. You are the only person who would want to sleep that late." Tenzo said with a smile. He chuckled at his embarrassed captain, earning him a glare from across the room. 

"Maa who needs to wake up early when we have the day off." He spoke with a shrug, assuming his usual laid-back stance. His attempt to calm his embarrassment failed as his stomach complained loudly in the quiet room. 

Kushina and Tenzo broke out in laughter, and Kakashi dramatically rolled his eyes. "Oi, Tenzo. If you are done laughing at me, we should go get lunch. On me." 

Tenzo raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. "YOU are going to pay? I must still be asleep in the hospital!" 

Kakashi rolled his eyes again and left the laughing duo in the kitchen to go get dressed. 

Walking through town, it still amused Kakashi to see how excited Tenzo would get looking at shops. When they were alone, Tenzo was all bright smiles and jokes. When they walked up to ichiraku's, Kakashi was almost sad to see Kurenai and Asuma eating there already. 

Asuma eyed them curiously as they took their usual spots, and as Tenzo relocated the candle burning on the counter again. 

"Kakashi, don't usually see you out and about anymore." Asuma spoke slowly. He looked to Tenzo, who sat farthest away from the couple. "This must be the kid Gai was yelling about, eh? Some new friend you've picked up somewhere?" 

Kakashi narrowed his eyes slightly. He knew his other friends didn't think too highly of his new position in Anbu. The way Asuma phrased that sentence bothered him. Were they upset that he was making friends in Anbu? Or did he suspect that Tenzo was from the foundation? 

"I've known Tenzo for a while now, actually. And yes, he is my friend. Any issues with that?" Kakashi spoke calmly. He turned to look at Tenzo, who was picking at his fingernails ruthlessly. His eyes drifted up to meet Kakashi's lone gray eye, and swiftly moved his hands down, knowing he was busted picking again. 

"Uh n-no, Kakashi. I'm glad you're making more friends." He looked back to Kurenai clearing his throat. He stood up and walked around Kakashi to greet Tenzo. "Hey, I'm Asuma Sarutobi. Pleasure to meet you." He extended his hand, and Tenzo stared at it until Kakashi elbowed him. "Tenzo." The brunette replied quietly. 

"I'm Kurenai. I think we've met once before." The woman spoke from across the counter. 

"Yeah, I guess we have." Tenzo said shyly. 

"What'll you have to eat boys?" Ayame asked Tenzo. "Ah. Two miso pork please." Tenzo answered quickly. Asuma glanced at him briefly, but if he thought it was weird for Tenzo to order Kakashi's food for him, he didn't show it. 

"So Tenzo, where did you and Kakashi meet?" Kurenai asked, smiling brightly at the boy. Kakashi shared a glance with Tenzo, waiting to let him answer. 

"Uh well, we actually met out in the forest. I was training out there and he came by wondering who was making all the noise." Tenzo said with a shrug. Kakashi wasn't really sure how much the other boy wanted to tell other people. 

"Training in the forest? What style of jutsu do you use?" Asuma asked curiously. 

Tenzo paused, running his hand through the wild brown hair on his head nervously. Kakashi flashed him a reassuring smile, prompting him to continue. It was strange seeing Tenzo be so nervous. The change was such a sharp contrast to how confident he was on missions. Kakashi was building a theory around the idea that maybe Tenzo felt better on missions because Kakashi was the one who was in charge, when Tenzo finally answered. 

"Ah well I'm proficient in taijutsu, water release, and earth release, and I have my own kekkei genkai, sort of." Tenzo answered timidly. 

"Wow. Sounds like you have a full arsenal. Don't let Gai hear you say taijutsu though or he will force you to spar with him." Asuma answered with a laugh. 

"What kind of kekkei genkai, if you don't mind me asking?" Kurenai piped in. 

Both of the jonin watched Tenzo curiously as he fiddled with his hands. Kakashi decided to step in and save his poor kohai. 

"He has a wood release. We can explain that another time though." He said with a shrug of his shoulders. Both ninjas looked equally shocked at the information Kakashi had just given them. After all, how could they understand? Tenzo however, looked relieved that Kakashi decided to take the reins, and Kakashi reached over and ruffled his hair. 

"Uuh… ok." Was all Asuma managed to reply before both boys turned around to dig in to the food Ayame just placed on the counter. 

~

Tenzo couldn't understand why he was so nervous around other people his own age. He was so afraid of being around normal people that all words flew out of his brain. He knew how to talk to the Anbu… they had all received the same horrible training. But this? He was so scared of saying the wrong thing. That's why when Kurenai asked her next question, Tenzo froze up completely. 

"So… you guys seem to have spent a lot of time together. Tell me Tenzo, have you seen Kakashi's face?"

Tenzo almost choked on a noodle before Kakashi reached over to pat him on the back. 

"I'll take that as a yes." She said with a light laugh. "So. What does he look like under all that fabric?" She smirked at Kakashi while she asked the question. 

Tenzo had seen his face, of course. They lived together, and Kakashi hardly ever wore the mask at home. But as far as he knew, no one other than the three people living with him had ever seen it. 

Kakashi… was handsome. Tenzo could admit that. His face below the mask was shockingly symmetrical, with his thin nose hanging over small pale lips. What most people would be shocked to hear, however, was the fact that Kakashi's canines were elongated much like an Inuzuka's, and occasionally when he smiled, they stuck out over his teeth. Accompanied with the crazy silver hair, his teeth gave him a wild appearance. A look that was just… Kakashi. He knew better than to tell anyone this, so he shrugged and brushed off the question. 

"I've seen it. But I've been sworn to secrecy, sorry." He spoke before shoving more ramen in his mouth. 

Kakashi laughed loudly when he looked at the disappointed faces of his peers. It was infectious, and caused Tenzo to laugh right along with it. 

Kurenai pouted, but Asuma just looked annoyed. "Hey Kakashi how come this kid gets to see your face and I don't? How many times has he seen it?" Asuma asks grumpily.

"My face? Oh Tenzo sees that every day." Kakashi replied like it wasn't a big deal. 

"EVERY DAY?! WHY?" Kurenai shouted. 

"Well we live together. It would be weird if I kept the mask on all the time." He stated matter-of-factly. 

Tenzo can't help but be amused at how casual Kakashi's tone is for what seems to be groundbreaking news to his friends. These two would be the first to know that they live together, and about an hour later, Kakashi and Tenzo were finally able to free themselves from the intense line of questioning. 

As they rounded the corner, both boys let out an audible sigh simultaneously. Kakashi looked to Tenzo and smiled. "Well the good news is, Kurenai is a huge gossip, so we probably won't have to answer so many questions next time. Let's go home." The taller boy said with a laugh.

~

The next day, Kakashi and Tenzo were given another mission. They were to travel as a two-person team and scope out one of Orochimaru's abandoned hideouts. They weren't looking for anything in particular, mostly they just needed to make sure there wasn't any valuable information down there. 

Before leaving, Minato had questioned Tenzo thoroughly. He wanted to make sure he wasn't overstepping by sending Tenzo into the lab of someone who was once his captor. Tenzo insisted he would be fine, so they set out early in the morning. 

Kakashi had been pulled aside before leaving. Minato asked him to keep a special eye on Tenzo either way to make sure he wasn't under any distress. Kakashi had never heard the entire story, but he knew enough to take the request seriously. Tenzo had been through something Kakashi could never even imagine. The boy had been poked, prodded, cut open and abused, all before he was four years old. Kakashi had seen the scars. Before Tenzo had moved in, both boys had a great time telling all the stories about their scars. That is, until Tenzo pulled up the back of his shirt to show him a stab wound. Kakashi caught sight of the huge round scars next to his spine, and couldn't help but ask about them. Tenzo didn't go into too great detail, but he told Kakashi enough for him to understand how truly gruesome the whole ordeal had been, and showed him the rest of the scars from it. 

So when they walked up to the deserted opening in the ground, Kakashi made sure to pay extra attention to Tenzo before slowly making their way inside. 

The narrow halls of the underground maze were exactly as Kakashi had expected. Dark gray walls followed by gray floors. No decorations, no pictures, and the minimum amount of furniture necessary. 

Tenzo looked calm. The boys had ditched their masks for this mission, seeing as how two sensory types AND a Hyuuga had confirmed the area to be deserted. Kakashi was glad they were able to express themselves freely in here. After all, how could he really be certain Tenzo was alright if he couldn't see his face? 

"SENPAI!" Tenzo shouted as he reached out, dragging Kakashi away from the horde of kunai that traveled across the walkway. A trap. An obvious one, at that. He was paying so much attention to Tenzo that he had forgotten where he was. He frowned to himself. How fitting it would be for him to die here, with his gravestone reading 'Here lies the great copy-ninja, died from a lame kunai trap'. He rolled his eyes, and refocused his attention on the task at hand. 

"Senpai?" Tenzo questioned. 

"You don't have to call me that when we're alone Tenzo." Kakashi replied. "I'm fine. I just got distracted."

Tenzo eyed him cautiously. "We are on a mission, and I will refer to you as either 'Senpai', or 'Captain'. Do you have a preference?"

"Kakashi?" The jonin replied with a smirk on his face.

"Not a chance, Captain." Tenzo said with a chuckle.

They carried on for a while in comfortable silence before they reached the actual lab. 

The tables were a mess. Papers and equipment were scattered everywhere. This was going to take some time. Kakashi turned around to make a strategy with Tenzo, only to realize he wasn't behind him any more. The room was huge, with a wide spread of technical gadgets that were so large they extended to the ceiling, blocking a clear view across the room.

"Tenzo?" He called out softly while making his way to the other side. He stopped when he saw his friend. Tenzo was frozen, standing in front of two large cylinder containers. The glass casings were filthy and the empty inside was long abandoned, but their original intentions were clear. Live experiments. 

Kakashi approached the brunette slowly, taking loud steps so he wouldn't startle him. An unnecessary measure perhaps, since he has never succeeded in sneaking up on Tenzo in the time he has known him. Kakashi hesitantly reaches out, placing an unsteady hand on Tenzo's warm shoulder. 

"Tenzo?" He asked timidly.

Tenzo didn't look away from the tubes, but was clearly roused from his thoughts. "There's only two." He stated plainly. 

Kakashi didn't know what to say to that. Was that significant? He wasn't sure. 

As if feeling the questioning thoughts radiating off of him, Tenzo answered. "There were 60 children taken for the mokuton experiments I was part of. It seems weird for there to only be two here."

Kakashi had never heard that before. In fact most of what Kakashi knew, he had learned from Minato, or heard Tenzo talking about it in his sleep. Tenzo didn't give a lot of information on the subject, though he did explain it as vaguely as possible to him. But, sixty was a large number. An unsettling silence fell over the two as Kakashi thought about Tenzo's words. 

"I'm the only one that survived, you know." Tenzo spoke softly, almost in a whisper. Kakashi decided it was best to just let him speak. 

"I saw them. When I was in the tube. In between trips to the tables where they would run their tests and do all their stabbing and cutting, I was in the tube. I… watched them. I waited for my turn. I couldn't hear it, but… they screamed. They pounded on the glass. That's how you knew when it was their time. I was waiting for the branches to claw their way out of my body and take me with them." 

Kakashi watched Tenzo take in deep shuddering breaths, and tried to bat away tears that were stinging in his eyes. He had only seen this look in Tenzo's features on the nights when he woke up, rolling in sweat and screaming. 

Tenzo steadied himself and continued. "Eventually… it was just two of us. Me… and her." The boy looked away from the tubes to stare down at his feet. "When you are alone, all you think about is dying. But when there are two of you, all you think about is surviving. And when her time came, I couldn't do anything."

Tenzo looked over to Kakashi, large brown eyes looking into a mismatched pair of red and dark steel. Kakashi reached out and pulled Tenzo into a deep hug, rubbing his back much like he did when the bad dreams made an appearance. He pulled back again, staring into orbs of swirling brown. "Tenzo, you'll never be alone again, okay? I'll always be here with you." 

Kakashi wrapped the shorter boy up into another hug.

After another minute of silence, Tenzo pulled himself back together. "Senpai," he spoke quietly, "let's get this mission done so we can get out of here." He smiled weakly to his captain as he pulled away. 

They split up, searching through messy folders and piles of papers before Kakashi grew impatient. He pulled out a sealing scroll and called out to Tenzo. "Forget it. Take it all. Seal it up in a scroll and let the intel division decide what's important."

The boys quickly gathered everything and sealed it away before leaving out the opposite tunnel. 

"This must be the emergency tunnel to the surface." Kakashi spoke as the gray walls turned to brown. The previously man-made tunnel gave way to what appeared to be a small, natural cave. 

Kakashi looked to Tenzo, checking in on him again before everything went lopsided. The ground gave in beneath his feet and suddenly Kakashi was falling.

"KAKASHI!"

Darkness surrounded him briefly before warmth encased his hand and stilled his movements. He glanced upwards. Tenzo had caught him as he fell, and Kakashi moved his free hand to grip Tenzo's wrist. His breath escaped him in rough burns as he tried his best to calm his mind and focus. He tested his surroundings, stretching his legs out briefly trying to find the walls of the hole he had fallen into. Nothing. 

"Tenzo, there's nothing for me to mold chakra to, you're gonna have to pull me up." He called up.

"Alright." Was Tenzo's answer before he felt extra pressure on his hands. He slowly shifted upwards as the other boy struggled to pull him up. 

"Senpai… when did… you get… so FAT!" Tenzo yelled as he pulled Kakashi over the last ledge and onto the cave floor. Tenzo was rolled backwards onto his back as Kakashi launched over him into his own roll across the floor. He stretched out, happy to be on solid ground, before looking over at Tenzo, breathing heavily on his back. He reached out his pale arm, punching Tenzo in the leg as they lay side by side in the dirt. " I am NOT fat." He replied with a chuckle. 

"Whatever you say Captain." Tenzo replied with a smirk.

Kakashi smiled at him, before his smile turned into a mischievous grin as realization hit him. Tenzo's smile faltered and he narrowed his eyes, suspicious of the words about to come out of Kakashi's mouth. 

"Tenzo. If I'm not mistaken, I heard you call me 'Kakashi' as I was falling through the floor. How unprofessional of you." He said, tilting his head to the side dramatically. 

Tenzo responding by giving Kakashi a nice swat to the forehead.


	10. Sixteenth Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay we are jumping ahead in time a little bit. The boys celebrate their 16th birthday with tons of fluffiness. Enjoy!

Tenzo woke to the sickly wet feeling of Bull licking his face. The large dog was sprawled out in his lap, attempting to get his attention. 

"Hey pup." Pakkun spoke from the floor. "You sure are a heavy sleeper nowadays. It's your birthday, you know." 

Right, Tenzo thought to himself. He and Kakashi had taken a few days off to celebrate their sixteenth birthday. He groaned as he nudged Bull off him and onto the floor. 

"What time is it?" He grumbled to the small dog and rubbed his eyes. 

"It's ten already. You better get a move-on before Kushina has to come get you." Pakkun threatened. 

Tenzo rolled out of bed and began his morning routine. He pulled one of his newer shirts over his chest and stretched his arms out to the ceiling, testing to make sure it fit him decently. His most recent growth spurt had caused many of his older clothes to become obsolete. He and Kakashi had both started to fill out nicely. Kakashi was still the taller of the two, but where Kakashi was built with lean muscle, Tenzo had grown bulky. He was an intimidating sight now for sure, like Kakashi had already been back when they were thirteen. The other large difference Tenzo saw in himself, was his skin. His time underground at the foundation had left him pale, but his three years in the sun had turned his skin into a beautiful light bronze. Kakashi had somehow managed to stay as pale as ever, without even getting so much as a sunburn. Kakashi liked to joke around and tell Tenzo he was morphing into a tree, a statement that caused Tenzo to give an exaggerated eye-roll without fail.

They were opposites in appearance, but nearly equals in skill and experience, and they stuck together like glue. One being seen in public without the other was a very rare occurrence, with the sighting all but guaranteeing the other was either hospitalized or ill. 

They were at the awkward middle age for ninja. Too young to be called a man, but too old and too experienced to really be called a boy. The amount of blood they had spilled over the years together would make even the elders cringe, yet they couldn't order drinks at the bar. The life of a ninja was complicated at best. 

Tenzo moved out into the hallway when he heard Kakashi's door shut. It appears he wasn't the only one sleeping in this morning. Kakashi stood still, bags under his eyes, silver hair flattened on one side, and a single tooth sticking out over his bottom lip. His shirtless chest covered in almost shiny pale skin leading down to his kunai patterned pajama pants. He was really nailing the 'just rolled out of bed' look, Tenzo thought to himself. 

He chuckled when Kakashi pulled an arm up to rub at one of his barely-open eyes. He looked almost childlike when he was sleepy. Tenzo had always known Kakashi to be a good-looking guy. But lately, he had noticed it more. If Kakashi would only leave his mask off in public, he could have any girl he wanted, easily. Not that both of them weren't having to fight off civilian girls left and right already. He could only imagine the swarms they would have to deal with if Kakashi decided to expose his smooth face to the world. 

Kakashi disappeared into the bathroom, and Tenzo made his way down the hallway. He almost tripped twice on the dogs chasing each other back and forth, and had barely stepped into the living room before he was ambushed into a hug by Kushina.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TENZO!" The woman squealed into his ear. She was always the most excited person in the house when it comes to birthdays, and it brought a warm smile to Tenzo's face. He pulled away from the tight hug, glancing down to the redhead's now extended stomach, concern covering his features. She was seven months pregnant now, and couldn't be any more excited. 

"Tenzo. You aren't going to crush my baby by giving me a hug, so quit your worrying." She scolded him lightly. 

"Sorry," he replied sheepishly, "I'm still not quite used to how all that works." He ran a hand through his short brown hair, trying to calm his nerves. The happy couple had assured him many times that there was nothing Tenzo could do to hurt the baby, but he couldn't help it. He lived in a world where he only brought death to others, and occasionally he brought that home with him. The concept of bringing in new life was still a strange one. 

Kushina quickly went back to the hallway to ambush the second teen as Kakashi rounded the corner. He had managed to wake up and shape himself into something that looked slightly more like a living being, though he was still wearing his pajamas. Kushina had bought those for their fifteenth birthday, with Tenzo having a similar pair covered in shuriken. 

Kakashi sat down at the table, and Tenzo decided it was time for coffee. He went over to the coffee maker, and found that Kushina had recently brewed some. He smiled to himself, thinking maybe Pakkun waking them up wasn't purely out of kindness. He pulled two cups down from the cupboard, one green, the other blue. The blue one, he filled with coffee and left alone, as Kakashi liked his coffee black. He made his own coffee with creamer, because he wasn't some savage like his counterpart. When he was done, both boys sat at the table, silently enjoying their coffee. 

"Now, I know you boys wanted to check out your new apartment today, so Minato is coming home on his lunch in a bit and we will do cakes and stuff then." Kushina called from the couch.

When Kushina announced her pregnancy, Tenzo and Kakashi had decided it was time to get a place of their own. Kushina had cried when they told her, and Tenzo felt awful. But they had assured her that their new apartment would be close by. And it was. Two streets over, they had procured a simple two bedroom apartment that was perfect for them. It was a place on the third floor of a building that was situated perfectly center between the training grounds, Anbu headquarters, and Hokage tower. Tenzo often joked that it was also good to be so close to the hospital, since the duo often found themselves lodged there, but Kakashi didn't find that thought as amusing. 

Tenzo's thoughts were interrupted by an abrupt sneeze from Kakashi's side of the table. He looked over to the other man, who was still silently sipping his coffee. 

"Are you getting sick, Kakashi?" He asked slowly.

"Nope." Came the quick answer from his captain. Too quick of an answer. Tenzo narrowed his eyes, glaring into the side of the face that refused to look at him. Yep. Kakashi was getting sick.

The sound of the door opening distracted Tenzo from the stubborn jonin as Minato joined the group. The blue eyes shined as the blonde walked up behind the boys, throwing an arm around each of them and pulling them in for a hug. He went around to the kitchen and helped Kushina carry over the cakes. After the second time, Tenzo had stopped being surprised when he was given cakes and gifts, and it turned into something he greatly looked forward to. Kushina set his cake down and his jaw dropped. It was shaped into a perfect tree, with the leaves frosted in different shades of green. Kushina had outdone herself this time. He looked over to see Kakashi eyeing his cake in the same fashion, as his cake was shaped like a pug. Kakashi looked down to the floor, dragging Pakkun up to the table to see what all the fuss was about. He stared at Kakashi's cake for a moment, before turning to glare at Kushina. "Really." Was all he said before a snickering Kakashi placed him back on the floor. 

"This is really beautiful, Kushina. Thank you so much!" Tenzo said, eager to dig into his cake. 

"Let's hurry up and eat so we can go see your present!" Kushina shouted excitedly. Minato shook his head in agreement, his eyes shining bright with suspicious enthusiasm as the boys turned to look at each other. Kakashi's eyes were narrowed in confusion before he turned back to the adults. "Go? And where exactly are we going?" He asked.

"Eat your cake and you'll see!" Minato replied delightedly. 

Tenzo and Kakashi had never eaten so fast. 

~

The two boys followed the adults down the street. They had no idea where they were being led, but the anticipation was making Tenzo antsy. As the small family made their way through town, the brunette couldn't help but think that this was the first time they had all been seen in public together. Most of their friends knew of the situation, but the majority of Konoha did not. He was aware of the strange looks they were getting as they walked down the road casually with the Hokage and his pregnant wife. 

Sensing his uneasiness, Kakashi shared a knowing glance with him, and gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder as they trudged on. 

Tenzo was so distracted by the people around them that he almost ran Minato over when they came to a sudden halt. 

He looked, and shared a confused look with Kakashi. This was their new apartment. 

Minato and Kushina smiled brightly at them. "Come on! Let's go inside!" The redhead shouted as she turned to run up the stairs.

"Hey! Don't be running like that when you're pregnant!" Minato yelled, chasing after her. 

Tenzo chuckled and shook his head. Those two hardly acted like adults half the time, and he could only imagine how crazy their child would be. He looked at Kakashi before both of them went sprinting up to their new living quarters. 

Both ninjas paused as they entered the door. The empty apartment they had rented… wasn't empty. There was a nice big couch, a bookshelf, appliances, and some decorations on the wall. 

Tenzo crossed over to the bookshelf, it was filled with books on everything from developing jutsus to architecture, and of course some icha-icha books for Kakashi. Tenzo rolled his eyes. Kakashi's obsession with Jiraiya's novels surely stemmed from Minato. The man always had one in his bag, since he was Jiraiya's student at one point. 

He chuckled as he walked away from the bookshelf, only to stop and stare at the wall. 

Hanging in the middle of the living room wall, was a black picture frame. The picture was something Tenzo recognized from last Christmas. Kushina insisted on getting a picture of everyone together. Tenzo and Kakashi were standing up front, arm in arm, while Kushina and Minato stood in the back, smiling proudly. It was a great picture, Tenzo had to admit, as it had captured both boys laughing at Pakkun trying to work the camera. Kakashi hadn't even had his headband over his eye, so more of his face was visible than what normally would be. 

Tenzo reached out and touched the frame, smiling at the family he never thought he would have. He felt Kakashi walk up behind him, and turned to see him looking deeply at the picture as well. 

"Do you like it?" Kushina asked softly from behind them.

Tenzo turned to her and immediately dragged her into a crushing hug. "It's more than I ever could have asked for." He replied quietly. When he turned back around, Kakashi had his mask down, and was releasing Minato from a hug as well. 

"Well we aren't done yet!" Minato piped in. "I believe there are two more rooms to look at…" The blonde said with a wink. 

In Tenzo's bedroom, he found a large bed with a brand new set of blankets that had little pine trees printed on them. Across the room, he had a brand new dresser. He laughed lightly looking at the bedding. Of course, it was obvious Kushina had picked these out. It was just like her. 

He wandered over to Kakashi's room to see what pattern he got on his bed. Sure enough, his blanket was covered in bolts of lightning. Tenzo chuckled as he and Kakashi headed back into the living room. Kakashi suddenly jerked his hand up to his nose in an attempt to cover a rather loud sneeze. Tenzo stopped walking to glare in his direction. Kakashi shrugged. "Probably just some dust." He spoke as he kept walking. Tenzo shook his head.

Kakashi was by far the absolute worst person to get sick. He was stubborn as all hell, and refused to take care of himself. Tenzo was not looking forward to that.

After Minato had to go back to work, the boys moved all of their stuff into the new apartment and settled in. 

~

Tenzo woke early, and decided to ask Kakashi out to breakfast to celebrate their moving out. He knocked on the door, and entered when he heard Kakashi grunt. 

He looked to the bed and watched as Kakashi groaned and rolled around under his blanket. He was pale, even more pale than usual, and sweaty. The man buried himself when he saw Tenzo glaring at him.

"Kakashi? Are you sick?" Tenzo asked, knowing the answer already.

A mess of silver-hair and two mismatched eyes peeked out from under the blanket. Tenzo had to laugh at how ridiculous Kakashi was when he was sick. He was an overgrown man-child. 

"Kakashi," Tenzo groaned, "you probably have a fever. You should take some medicine." 

Kakashi pulled himself back under the covers to hide again. 

Tenzo sighed and made his way over to the bed. His stubborn ass of a captain wasn't going to make this easy. He leaned over the edge of the bed and tried pulling the comforter up. Kakashi held it from underneath. 

Tenzo rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding me, Senpai?" Tenzo heard the almost silent snickering from under the blanket, and couldn't help the slight smile pulling at his lips. 

He reached one arm under the side of the blanket instead, and felt Kakashi jump when his hand snaked up to his forehead. It was good to know he could still surprise his captain, even if the man had to be sick for it to be done. 

"You have a fever. Are you going to stop fighting this? Or shall I send for Kushina?" Tenzo threatened with a smirk. 

Kakashi flung the blankets down to the end of the bed, glaring at Tenzo as he lay still, lips closed tightly with two pointy teeth poking out. Tenzo laughed, ruffled Kakashi's hair, and left to get some medicine. 

Even though Kakashi could be difficult, Tenzo enjoyed taking care of him. He'd never tell the bastard that, even if he thought Kakashi already had a hunch. Kakashi made things fun, no matter how hard Tenzo tried to pretend otherwise. 

Tenzo scrounged up some quick miso soup and brought a bowl to Kakashi along with his medicine. The sick man scarfed down the soup, but once again refused the medicine. 

Tenzo rolled his eyes. "Fine." He said simply. And stood there, arms crossed over his chest.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "You… you dosed my soup, didn't you?" He said with a scowl. 

Tenzo's responding laugh echoed out into the apartment. "Enjoy your sleep while you can, Senpai. We will probably be getting a mission soon." He said as he left the room. Kakashi's answering growl brought a smile to his face.


	11. Mission Disaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi and Tenzo's mission goes horribly wrong

Kakashi raced through the trees, Tenzo following behind closely. Their target was just ahead, according to the tracking seed Tenzo planted on him. 

The target was a ninja who had defected from the hidden leaf. The possible defection had been forewarned, giving Tenzo time to plant the tracker on him. 

Tenzo and Kakashi stopped simultaneously, and he looked to his kohai for directions. 

"They've stopped in the clearing up ahead. Maybe they are waiting for someone." Tenzo whispered. 

"Mm." Kakashi answered. "Let's move closer."

At the edge of the clearing, they could see clearly. Their target, a tall, burly man with black hair. He stood alone, leaning up against the large rock in the center of the otherwise barren field. He wore a plain white shirt, black pants, and fighting gloves. His specialty was taijutsu, but the reason his defection was taken so seriously, is because he had been working with the Intel division. Minato needed this man taken care of as soon as possible, so he sent his best assassination team. 

"Maybe it's best we take him out before his friends arrive." Kakashi thought out loud. 

"Agreed." Tenzo whispered. "I can go around to the other side and we can hit him both directions." 

"Let's go." Kakashi commanded.

Kakashi waited for Tenzo to signal that he had made it to the other side before jumping out to confront the traitor. 

The man looked at him immediately. "Ah. Looks like Minato sent his favorite pet after me… where is your little lap dog?"

Kakashi just watched him, kunai in hand. 

"You know which one I'm talking about. Kinda tall, big muscles, likes to grow trees?" The man said with a smirk.

"I'd say I'm a little bigger than a lap dog." Tenzo spoke plainly from his other side.

The man jumped slightly, but a smile quickly grew on his face. "I was hoping to see you two here. You see, I've left the village to join Orochimaru, but his condition was that I bring out the Hokage's favorite duo that keeps tearing through his minions."

Kakashi shared a glance with Tenzo. This was a trap. He could see Tenzo concentrating on sending out his chakra, searching for enemies.

"Eight. Two from each direction." Tenzo replied quietly. 

"Ah! So you're sensitive to chakra? I don't actually know that much about you two. Guess I'll get to see your work up close!" The man said loudly. Kakashi had had enough. He launched his kunai into the man's throat, shutting him up permanently. As the traitor choked on his own blood, Kakashi walked up to him. "If you didn't work with the intel division, Orochimaru wouldn't have taken a second glance at you. Guess that's all the work you will see us do."

The man died quickly. Tenzo and Kakashi stood side by side in the middle of the clearing, waiting for either an opening or for the inevitable attack. 

They dropped into the field all at once. Kakashi didn't like their odds. Especially if Orochimaru set this trap for them specifically. 

The battle started. Four ran at Kakashi, and four at Tenzo, separating the two of them from each other. Kakashi activated his chidori, and engaged the front runner head on, his attack went straight through his chest.

One down.

"Earth style: rolling earthquake!" Tenzo shouted across the field. The ground rolled in front of him quickly, launching from his position in a wave and moving straight towards the advancing enemies. One dodged the jutsu, but the other was knocked into the air.

Two down.

Kakashi pulled his sword from his back and fought the next two. The third from his side was staying back, launching kunai consistently from a distance. Kakashi blocked one enemy with his sword, but the other kicked him in the chest, sending him backwards. He landed gracefully, rolling onto his feet to avoid the chakra infused fist that pounded the ground where he landed. He swung his arm around backwards, cutting the taijutsu user's arm off completely.

Three down.

Tenzo grew a wooden shield on his arm to block enemy kunai, and forced out the signs for the mokuton. 

"Mokuton: wooden spikes jutsu!" He called out as the giant spikes ripped themselves out of the ground beneath the closest enemy. The man was impaled as the other two ran up on the brunette. 

Four down.

"Mokuton!" He shouted again as wooden beams shot out of his arms at the two women left on his side. One was hit square in the face with a beam and launched backwards into the rock.

Five down.

The other woman was fast. Too fast. She jumped onto the wood and used it to pave a path straight to Tenzo. She jumped and landed on his chest, kunai sticking him in the shoulder. He grabbed her wrist and one of her legs, spun in a circle and threw her off of him. Before she could get back up, the ground beneath her opened up and tentacles of wood wrapped her up, dragging her into the dirt with them.

Six down.

Kakashi engaged a man in taijutsu. He ducked a swing at his head, and swung around the enemy and sliced the man's back open with his sword. 

Seven down.

He spun around to meet the other attack as a sword pierced through his stomach. His vision went blurry as white hot sparks of pain flew through his body. He gripped the sword with his hands, cutting both open as he pulled the sword out of his body. The ground swung towards his face as his vision went black.

~

Tenzo turned around just in time to see Kakashi pulling a sword through his stomach. His heart dropped, and before he could process what was happening his legs carried him over to the other side. The sword went straight through Kakashi's back again as the enemy stabbed him after he passed out. 

This can't be happening.

Tenzo's hands were moving as tendrils erupted from the ground, grabbing the enemy by their feet and dragging them under the ground to suffocate in the dirt.

Eight down. 

Tenzo slid to the ground and flipped Kakashi's limp form over. He ripped his friend's shirt open to try to stop the bleeding from at least one side. Green chakra sprung from his fingers as his breath hitched in his throat and tears welled in his eyes. This couldn't happen. Not to Kakashi. 

The bleeding stopped on the front, so he turned Kakashi onto his side to look at the back. That's when he saw it. 

Black lines spreading across his back where his veins should be. Poison. He'd been poisoned. Tenzo knew black wasn't a good sign. He stopped the bleeding as quickly as he could. It was a two day trip back to Konoha, but Tenzo knew if he used everything he had left he could make it in one. 

He had to force his movements as his mind began to panic. He pulled Kakashi up onto his back and secured him there with thin strips of wood. He used a quick earth style jutsu to pull all the remaining bodies under the ground and took off to the trees. 

Now would have been a good time to have a summoning contract with an animal, he thought to himself. He could have sent them ahead. But instead he has nothing. His stupid mokuton and taijutsu weren't going to save his friend. He had failed to protect the most important person in the world. 

His chakra was low. He had used most of it during the battle, the rest of it healing Kakashi, and every minute, bits of his last ounce of chakra trickled out to keep Kakashi secure to his back. He was exhausted, and his mind was stricken with grief. He had grown hysterical, had started hallucinating, but he kept going. He had to, even if he took his last breath on this trip. He only had to make it through the gates. 

He tried to stay calm as every hanging vine turned into snakes, and each shadow turned into a pale-skinned nightmare with long black hair. His mind jumped every time something was on the other side of a tree. His constant state of panic wore him down. His legs wobbled every time he kicked off from a tree, and a few times he missed the branch he was aiming for and had to catch himself on the ground. 

He didn't know how long he had been running, time had turned into one big blur. 

He saw the gates, but were they real? He didn't know. All he knew was that he had to make it. Had to save Kakashi. 

He was almost there. His legs turned to jello and he was propelled into the dirt. His vision turned fuzzy, and he could swear someone was yelling. He felt Kakashi's body roll of his back as he didn't have the chakra to maintain the jutsu. 

No! He tried calling out for Kakashi but his voice wouldn't work. His vision blacked out.

~

Tenzo felt his body start to wake up, but he couldn't quite get his eyes to open.  
What happened? He searched his brain for his last memories. Kakashi… Kakashi was stabbed… and poisoned? Did he make it to the gates? Is he passed out in the forest somewhere? He had to get up. A groan escaped his throat as he tried to force his body into motion. His body screamed in pain, but he had to go. 

His eyes opened slowly. Fuzzy what surrounds dad his vision. He was… in the hospital? Was Kakashi alive? He must have really made it to the gates.

His ears rang as he tried to sit up. There was a fuzzy murmuring sound, but he couldn't tell what or who it was. Everything was blurry, but he lifted his leg out of the bed and fell to the floor. 

He felt warm hands grip his shoulders and pull him back up into the bed. That wasn't where he wanted to go. He needed to find Kakashi. 

Tenzo tried to speak. "Ka" was all he managed before his voice disappeared again. His vision finally started to even out as the room came back into focus. He looked for the warm hands. Maybe they knew where Kakashi was.

It was Minato. He had dark circles under his eyes and a pained expression on his face. There was blood on his hands. Why did he have blood on his hands? He was moving his mouth to speak, but Tenzo couldn't hear it. He just stared at Minato's hands, right up until they reached out to grab his shoulders.

"Tenzo! Tenzo can you hear me?!" Minato shouted. His ears were sensitive, and his hands jumped up to cover them. Minato pulled his hands away and spoke quieter. "You need to calm down! You are safe now!"

He didn't understand. Tenzo didn't care about himself. He only cared about Kakashi. 

"Ka… Kaka.." he groaned in frustration. He couldn't make his mouth work correctly. 

It worked though. Minato's face lit up in realization and he centered himself in front of Tenzo. "Kakashi is okay, Tenzo. You made it in time."

Those were the words Tenzo needed to hear. He laid back into the hospital bed. 

"Tenzo. I need you to relax. You gotta get back on your feet. Kakashi isn't awake, and you aren't exactly speaking, so we have no idea what the hell happened to you guys out there. All I know is Kakashi was almost cut in half AND poisoned, and YOU almost bled to death on the way here and almost died of extreme chakra exhaustion. You didn't heal your shoulder? You were hit in a vein, you know!"

Tenzo didn't try to answer. He looked down at his hands. They still had a bit of Kakashi's blood on them. He knew Minato was frustrated. It had to be difficult. He sends both boys that he views as his children out on a mission and they both come back unconscious and half-dead, and he can't even figure out why. Tenzo felt horrible. The responsibility he must feel is awful.

Minato brought him a glass of water. He didn't even realize how thirsty he was until he downed the whole glass with a shaky hand. 

"O-Orochimaru set up an a-ambush for us." He managed to speak a little. 

Minato's jaw dropped. He had no idea what happened, but he had probably never thought an ambush was part of it. 

"K-Kakashi isn't awake?" He asked nervously. 

"No." Minato replied sullenly. "He is still unconscious. But Lady Tsunade is in town, and she says he should wake within a day or two."

The door to the room swung open, and Tenzo barely got a glimpse of the red hair before Kushina was flinging her arms around his shoulders. "Tenzo! I'm so glad you're okay!" She cried out, tears streaming down her face 

"Kushina please, you're crushing the poor boy." Minato said, pulling her off of him. "Sorry Honey I'm just glad you are finally awake." She apologized as she pulled her weight off of him completely. "I bet you are tired." she spoke softly before looking to her husband. "And Minato, you better not be interrogating the poor boy!" She scolded. He raised his hands in his defense but didn't speak. He probably noticed Tenzo starting to fall asleep. Kushina touched his hand lightly. "Go to sleep Sweetheart. You did a good job. Kakashi is going to be alright. One of us will be here when you wake up again."

And with that, Tenzo's eyes closed for the night.


	12. Poisoned Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just the boys being miserable in the hospital

When Tenzo woke, he convinced Minato to take him to Kakashi. Minato heaved Tenzo into a wheelchair and was pushing him down the bright white hallway.

"Excuse me? Just what do you think you are doing?" An angry woman's voice rang out behind them. Tenzo could feel Minato freeze up, so he turned to look at the person who could get under the Hokage's skin.

He recognized the angry blonde woman as Lady Tsunade, who was standing there with arms crossed and her foot violently tapping the ground. 

"We were just going to see Kakashi…" Minato spoke like a child that had been caught sneaking a cookie. 

"JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE THE HOKAGE DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN GO AROUND DOING AS YOU PLEASE! THE BRAT'S ROOM IS LIMITED ACCESS AND YOU KNOW IT!" As she bellowed through the halls, Tenzo noticed all the nurses had disappeared.

"But Tenzo deserves to see him, Lady Tsunade." Minato replied calmly. 

"Tenzo?" She questioned, then turned her attention to the boy in the chair. 

Tenzo shrunk down in the chair under her gaze. She was… intimidating, to say the least. 

"Are you the one that carried the brat to the gates?" She asked, her voice now carrying a more gentle tone. 

Tenzo grimaced at the word 'brat'. He wasn't much of a fan of anyone calling Kakashi names, but he wasn't about to butt heads with this woman over it. "Yes ma'am." He replied quietly. 

"Well then your duty has been fulfilled. Your comrade is safe, you may return to your room." She replied coldly.

Tenzo's heart sank. Kakashi was more than a comrade, much more. 

"Lady Tsunade." Minato spoke, a more demanding tone crossing his voice. The woman shifted her gaze to Minato and her eyes narrowed slowly. 

"Tenzo is not just a comrade to Kakashi. He is family to us, Kakashi included. He lived with us after the foundation's collapse, and lives with Kakashi now, along with being a member of his team." The blonde explained the situation curtly.

Tenzo was glad he had asked Minato. If Kushina had been the one pushing the chair… things might have gotten ugly. 

A look of surprise graced Tsunade's features before she looked to Tenzo again. "Go on, then." She dismissively answered.

When they entered Kakashi's room, all the breath flew from Tenzo's lungs. The usually wild shock of Kakashi's hair lay flat and lifeless against the pillow, on the very top of the thin, motionless body of the jonin himself. Kakashi looked frail, fragile in a way Tenzo had never seen him. The brunette's throat dried out, his body started shaking, and tears threatened to spill over his face. Minato put a warm hand on his shoulder, then pushed him up to the bed. Tenzo automatically reached out for Kakashi's hand, wrapping one hand around the fragile pale fingers, and one on his wrist. 

He pulled his eyes away from Kakashi's sullen features for just a moment, and his gaze locked with Tsunade's, who had been watching him intently. "What happened? I thought you two had only been fighting one person." 

Her tone had all the seriousness of a commander, and Tenzo had a fleeting thought that maybe she would have been a good Hokage in another life. "We were ambushed. Eight people sent by Orochimaru." He paused when he saw her cringe at the name, then continued. "Our target said that they were expecting us to be the ones sent. That they had been waiting for Minato's favorite 'pets'. We sensed them in the trees, and had taken them on, four each. I had taken out the ones on my side, and I turned to see… Kakashi getting stabbed through the back by the last person." Tenzo was practically mumbling by the end of his monologue, but the other two appeared to understand anyway. 

"Who healed him?" Tsunade asked quietly.

"I… I did." Tenzo answered, wondering why it even mattered. He dropped his head down onto the edge of the mattress, staring down at the floor. Momentary silence draped over the room, until Tenzo felt a small hand on his hurt shoulder. He jumped slightly, but turned his head on the mattress to see Tsunade looking at the injury on his shoulder. Gentle green waves washed over the wound and Tenzo was relieved of pain he wasn't even aware of. An annoying beeping noise rang out across the room, and Tenzo looked up to see the lines on the heartbeat monitor spiking. He looked to Tsunade with wide brown eyes. She pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. "It's alright, Tenzo. He's only dreaming. Dreams from poison aren't always… pleasant." 

Kakashi's body twitched, his forehead started sweating, and the monitor went crazy. 

Then, a pair of eyes shot open, one of cold steel and one bright red.

~

Kakashi woke up on the floor. He felt… strange. The room he was in was dark, but an assortment of small lights scattered about as he tried to focus on his surroundings. He opened his left eye. Nothing happened. He lifted his hand up to his face. The scar was gone from around his eye. What the hell was happening? 

Kakashi slowly forced himself to sit up. He wasn't very far off the floor. He was… small. Was he a kid again? He lifted his hand up again and tried to focus. His eyes were getting readjusted to the dark, and he could see how tiny his hands were. He lifted his hands into a familiar sign. "Release!" He called out into the darkness. Nothing happened… this wasn't a genjutsu. 

Kakashi stood up on bare feet. Where were his sandals? He searched around for a hint of where he was located. The little lights belonged to items lining several tables. They looked scientific. Maybe he was in a lab? Looking around the small room, he located the dark doorway. He moved quickly. 

Entering the next room, Kakashi was practically blinded by bright green lights. He waited until he could see again and inspected his surroundings. Two rows of giant glass tubes lined this room. Something tickled the back of his mind, a memory of some sort, but he couldn't catch it. The thought fluttered away as he tried to reach out for it. 

He moved forward again. Stopping at the first tube, Kakashi moved up to the green glass to peer inside. A child, a girl. She had wires popping out of her back that escaped out of the top of the enclosure. Her eyes were closed. Was she unconscious? No, Kakashi thought. She appeared dead. 

The next tube contained a similar situation. This time, however, Kakashi saw the branch that had exploded out of the young boy's shoulder. The silver-haired boy stood still, entranced by the brown wood with several leaves clinging for dear life. There was something, something that made that branch important. What was it?

A word. All he could find was a word. Mokuton. What did it mean? 

"Mokuton…" He spoke the word out into the darkness, in hopes of calling out to the branch. Instead, he had called forth the memories, and they slammed back into his brain like an avalanche. 

"Tenzo!" He shouted. 

Then he was running. He ran so fast, as fast as the little legs could carry him. His heart was racing as he searched through every tube. He had to find him, find the survivor. Find his Tenzo. 

He reached the end of the line. One tube, empty and cracked, was left. Kakashi felt it in his heart that this was where Tenzo had been. But he wasn't here. An empty, dreadful feeling encased Kakashi's heart. Would he ever find Tenzo? Would that giant smile ever brighten his day again? 

Hysterical shrieking sounded from the other end of the room. Kakashi recognized it. He ran back to the beginning of the line, how did he run right past him? He skidded to a stop in front of the very first tube he had passed. It was Tenzo, locked in the tube and surrounded by fluids. Branches were shooting out of his back at an alarming rate and he was screaming. Kakashi had to help. He beat on the glass as hard as he could but nothing was happening. He pulled his hand out to activate his chidori, but the lightning sizzled away before Kakashi could use it. Tenzo was dying, and there was nothing he could do. 

Kakashi's eyes shot open. The bright white of the room blinding him as he fought to draw in his first breath. All he could feel was the rising panic in his chest as he sat up and started ripping wires out of his arms.

In less than a second, a firm hand reached his chest and slammed him down onto the mattress. Another strong hand gripped his face and forced him to look at its source. He tried to focus in on the blonde woman screaming at him.

"KAKASHI! CALM DOWN!" Tsunade roared in his face. He froze, staring up at her in shock, and she released her bruising hold on his masked jaw to fix the IV lines he had just violently yanked out. He was alive, he thought to himself as the memories of his last battle surged back to him. 

"Kakashi?" The timid voice next to him called, and he recognized it immediately. He turned his head to look at his kohai, who to be honest, looked a little worse for wear. 

He smiled at him the best he could with the mask, but his smile faded as the thought of his nightmare came back to him. All those feelings of dread and loneliness… he still felt them. He never wanted to lose Tenzo. He knew that much. He also knew that Tenzo made him feel as if he could keep going forever, like the line of death Kakashi had left in his wake wasn't the only thing that defined him. Most importantly, there was one thing he knew, above all else.

Kakashi loved him. 

~

Kakashi had been awake for five minutes now, and Tenzo was so grateful. He felt like he was able to breathe again. Kakashi, however, appeared to be having great difficulty. Tenzo looked around, and saw a glass of water on the other side of the room. He imagined standing up would get the already agitated blonde to yell at him. Instead, he settled for using his jutsu. He silently cued the mokuton and reach out across the room, grabbed the glass and pulled it back in. He looked over to Kakashi, only to lock eyes with Tsunade. Her expression was easy to read. She was floored. Her jaw reached an all time low and her brown eyes were blown wide. She quickly turned to face Minato, he loudly gulped as she bit out her next words through clenched teeth. "Hallway. Now." They left quickly, and Tenzo was confused. He probably shouldn't have been using chakra, he thought in hindsight, but that was no reason to get on Minato's case.

Tenzo turned his attention back to Kakashi, and offered him the water. He gulped it down just as quickly as Tenzo had earlier. Kakashi stared into Tenzo's eyes for a while. It was unsettling. Tenzo looked away sheepishly, and decided to start talking. "I'm glad you're finally awake, Sempai." 

"Tenzo… you probably shouldn't have used the mokuton." Kakashi spoke finally.

Tenzo looked at Kakashi, confused. "Look, I know I have chakra exhaustion but how many times have I told you -"

"No." Kakashi interrupted. "That's not what I mean. I take it you don't know about Tsunade, then?" He questioned Tenzo, confusing him even more. 

"She's the granddaughter of the first Hokage, Tenzo. Judging by that reaction… she didn't know you had his jutsu." Kakashi spoke calmly, and reached out for Tenzo's hand. Tenzo of course obliged and wrapped warm tan fingers through Kakashi's pale ones. 

No doubt Minato was out there telling that lady that Tenzo was just some experiment. He hated other people knowing, honestly. It made him feel like he was some sort of freak. 

Tsunade and Minato waltzed back into the room loudly. She stormed right over to Tenzo, who shrunk down in his chair again like a scolded child. She reached an arm out behind Tenzo's shoulder blade, and pushed him forward so his face was on the mattress. She wasn't using more force than necessary, but Tenzo still couldn't fight back against her strength. He felt her lift the back of his shirt up to his neck. His body tensed painfully. He knew what she was looking for without a doubt; the scars lining his spine. 

"Don't you dare glare at ME brat! Or you will be next!" He heard her elevated voice, undoubtedly yelling at Kakashi, who still had a hold on his hand. 

Tenzo was nervous and uncomfortable. But he felt slightly better as another pale hand wound around his wrist in reassurance. 

Tsunade's hand touched his spine. He winced and sharply inhaled through gritted teeth. Kakashi squeezed his hand, redirecting his focus for a welcome distraction. 

As her touch found it's way over to a spot that Tenzo knew housed a rather nasty scar, he felt her feeding her chakra into his body. Was she healing him? No… she was looking for information on what had been done to him. 

And like that, it was gone. She pulled his shirt back down and released her hold on him. He sat up, using his free hand to rub the back of his now sore neck. He turned to eye the woman curiously. She was much more pale than before… she must not have enjoyed what she found. It's not like Tenzo much enjoyed it either. He wondered exactly how much of the torture he went through could be seen on the inside of his body. 

"Y-your jutsu…" she spoke, much more nervous than anything she had said before. "Maybe… maybe when you are healed… do you think I could see it? I haven't seen the mokuton in quite a long time." 

Tenzo's gaze softened. He understood, to an extent, why she would want to see it. "Of course, Lady Tsunade."

She smiled slightly, gave one more glance at Kakashi, and turned to leave. She paused as she reached the door. "Minato," she said as she turned halfway back, "I will work on getting your boys out of here." 

That was the last thing she said before leaving the room. 

Kakashi was the first to break the silence. "Tenzo, are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm just sore… she was a little rough." He said with a chuckle. He stopped when he saw the serious stare Kakashi was giving him.

"No. I mean… why the hell are you in a wheelchair? Last thing I remember is getting stabbed." 

Oh. Kakashi wouldn't be happy to hear that he had almost killed himself trying to get his captain back home. 

This was going to take some explaining.


	13. Tsunade's visit

When they were able to return back to their apartment finally, Kakashi was sure that Tsunade's rough treatment of Tenzo was a factor in her releasing them so early. As soon as she had left the room, Minato had rushed off to speak with Anbu about Orochimaru, and Tenzo was forced to tell Kakashi about his part in returning the unconscious jonin back to Konoha. He took the news surprisingly well, seemingly just happy that Tenzo was safe. Now they were back in the safety of their own living quarters, away from all the stress of the hospital.

This place felt like home, even though they had hardly slept in it two days before being called out. Since it was far too early for bed, and they were on strict orders to stay home, the boys decided to read. Kakashi grabbed one of his new Icha-icha books and plopped down on the end of the long couch, pulling his legs up and onto the middle cushion against the back. 

Tenzo brought a thick architecture book over, and Kakashi couldn't help but roll his eyes. The wood-style user had an obsession with learning new things to create with his jutsu, and had created their new kitchen table four different times before being satisfied with the style. Tenzo laid against the other end of the couch and brought his legs up as well, leaving Kakashi's on the inside, and Tenzo's to the outside. 

Kakashi kept his face in his book, but he wasn't reading. He was thinking about his new revelation of love from the hospital. Could he really be in love with Tenzo? He felt the warmth of Tenzo's legs against his, and he found it hard to concentrate his thoughts. 

He had never really thought about love and affection and all that, at least not in a way that wasn't the kind you give family. He wasn't even aware if he liked girls at all. All these swirling thoughts of romance and starting a relationship had to be because of puberty, right? 

Tenzo? Why Tenzo? He thought about sweet, caring Tenzo. The boy who helped birds rebuild their nests, and whose eyes lit up when he discovered a flower he had never seen before. The boy who was loved by all the ninken, and smelled sweet like the forest. The boy who stared in amazement the first time he saw the New Year's fireworks show from the city center, and the boy he trusted more than anyone to watch his back. Yes… he could be in love with him. That probably explained why he couldn't even bring himself to lecture Tenzo for his recklessness.

But, Tenzo was a boy, or rather, a man. Did he like men? Could he be attracted to him? 

He thought back to a few weeks ago. They had extra time in their mission and had decided to stop by the hot springs. He thought back to when they were joking, smiling and splashing each other. Tenzo's brilliant smile could light up a room. He thought about Tenzo's muscled chest sticking out over the water, flexing with each movement as the tan skin glistened in the light. 

Uh-oh. Kakashi thought to himself as he shifted in his seat, lowering his book into his lap. 

I guess that answers THAT question. 

"Kakashi? What's wrong?" Tenzo suddenly asked from his side of the couch. 

Kakashi's eyes snapped up to meet Tenzo's gaze. Those big brown eyes were more expressive than even Minato's, and had swirls of lighter brown mixed in. They were beautiful. Now, they were laced with concern. Kakashi realized it was probably because he had been staring into them for a solid minute without answering Tenzo's question. 

"Oh. Uh… nothing's wrong. Just reading, is all." He answered, trying to will the blush away that was excessively visible on his bare face. 

"No, you're not. You haven't been reading this whole time. what has got you thinking so hard?" He asked curiously.

"What?" Was the only thing Kakashi could get out. How did he know?

"I know how often you turn pages when you read. You were pretending." He spoke with a smirk appearing on his face. 

Kakashi chuckled a little. He would have to remember that next time he needed to pretend. 

"So? What were you thinking about?" Tenzo asked again.

Kakashi didn't know what to say. He couldn't very well tell Tenzo he was in love with him, could he? Besides, he didn't even know if Tenzo liked boys or if he liked girls. 

He looked at Tenzo again. 

"Um… do you, ah… like girls, Tenzo? Like in a romantic sense?" He asked timidly. 

The brunette had clearly not been expecting that question in the slightest. He sat silent for a minute before answering. 

"I guess I've never really thought about it before… I don't really know, I guess. Do you? Like girls?" He returned the question.

"Uh… no. I don't. I think… I like boys." Kakashi replied, moving a hand to the back of his neck nervously. 

The other boy tried to hide his shock, but Kakashi could see it plain as day in the brown orbs across from him. He let a minute or two pass before speaking again. "Does that… bother you?"

"No! Of course not," Tenzo answered quickly, "just surprising, is all."

"Surprising?" 

"Yeah, I mean… if you liked girls, you could have had any one you wanted." Tenzo offered.

Kakashi was confused. What did he have to offer someone else? "What do you mean?" He asked, silver eyebrows furrowed. 

Tenzo thought for a moment. "I'm just saying if you just took off the mask once in a while then the girls would be flinging themselves at you."

Kakashi had to laugh at the imagery, and couldn't keep the grin off his face. Did Tenzo just admit to liking his face? He tried to shake off that thought. It was possible to look at people objectively, and he didn't need to be putting words to something that wasn't true. 

"What?" Tenzo said, and Kakashi realized he had been staring again. "Nothing. I'm just happy to hear how pretty I am." He said with a trouble-making grin on his face. 

Tenzo rolled his eyes. It was probably his most common reaction to anything Kakashi said, and the jonin loved it. "Alright jackass. It's getting late, and that Tsunade lady said she was coming to check on us in the morning. Who knows when she will be here." Tenzo said, shutting his book and moving to get up.

"Maa, Tenzo you are so mean to me. I'm not a jackass." Kakashi whined.

"Yes, and I feel SOOOO bad for you." The other said sarcastically as he made his way to the bookcase. Kakashi pouted and went to his room. Usually after a hospital stay, they would share a bed. Weird? Maybe. But it was tradition. But… Kakashi had just told him that he liked boys. All traditions have to come to an end at some point, he supposes. He sighed and went to shut the door when Tenzo popped into the room. To say Kakashi was confused was an understatement, and he didn't hide it very well. 

"What? You think just because you told me that you like guys that would scare me off? Nice try. Someone has to stay to make sure you don't run off or die in the middle of the night." Tenzo said with a chuckle. 

Kakashi smiled. He had no reason to be worried, after all. He should've known better. Tenzo would never change his opinion of him for something like that. He took his place on the right side of the bed and went to sleep with Tenzo's forest scent swirling around in his brain. 

~

Tenzo shifted awake. He could feel Kakashi leaning on his shoulder, his deep breathing causing his skin to tingle. He didn't want to open his eyes, he was too comfortable. But something had woken him up, and he listened to try to solve the mystery.

"Well aren't you two just adorable." Tsunade's voice rang out in the room. Tenzo sprang up in the bed, glaring into the light as his eyes adjusted to being awake. Tsunade was standing in the doorway, smiling down at the two sleepy teenagers. "Not often you see two teenagers sleeping together with their clothes ON." She said with a laugh, dodging a pillow thrown from Kakashi's side of the bed. The silver-haired ninja sat up, his mask somehow on and his hair flattened on one side. 

"I'm JOKING Hatake. You'd be shocked how often ninja choose to share a bed with someone for reasons other than sex." Her features turned serious as she crossed the room to check on them. 

She sent green chakra flowing through Tenzo's shoulder as she inspected his injuries. "You can use your jutsu now. The brat, not so much. You appear to heal much faster than he does. You feel like going outside for a couple minutes?" She asked, arching an eyebrow at the tan teenager. 

Tenzo wanted to go back to sleep, but this lady had single-handedly saved Kakashi's life. He could manage showing her a couple examples of his jutsu. 

Tenzo and Kakashi followed Tsunade out of the house. Kakashi hadn't even bothered to put a shirt on, but Tenzo couldn't stand leaving his scars out in the open. It was cold out, and he wondered how long Kakashi would stubbornly refuse to go put some warmer clothes on. 

Tenzo walked to the middle of the yard, pausing to look back at Tsunade before starting. 

"Just a fair warning, my jutsu isn't quite in the same league as your grandfather's." 

The woman chuckled. "I'm sure it's just fine, Tenzo." 

Tenzo chuckled inwardly as he looked over to see Kakashi already shivering from the chilly air. He turned to start his demonstration. He threw his hands down to the ground, growing a cluster of impressive blooming cherry trees. He could hear Tsunade gasp, leaving him feeling quite proud of himself. His memory brought an image to his attention from when he was learning about the first Hokage. A picture he had seen, of the man himself with a small blonde girl sitting on his shoulders. He turned and walked back to Tsunade. 

"I can't thank you enough for what you've done, saving Kakashi and all that. I'd like to give you a gift." 

She looked confused, but her expression changed as he placed his hands together lightly. A surge of chakra threaded between his palms as he shaped a wooden replica of the picture. He had been practicing making figures for quite some time, and he was confident in the level of detail he was able to add. He held the tiny statue out for her, and she reached out with shaking hands as her eyes watered. 

Kakashi smiled and patted his shoulder in approval, as Tenzo watched Tsunade admire his gift. 

"Thank you so much." She practically whispered, before excusing herself to leave. 

The boys returned to their apartment. Tenzo decided he had expended enough effort for the day, and returned to his bed. He was a little surprised when Kakashi climbed under the covers as well, but was shocked when Kakashi pressed himself up against Tenzo's back, frozen pale arms trapped between them. 

Tenzo turned his head, eyebrow raised in a silent question. 

"Sorry. I'm just a bit cold." Kakashi answered plainly. 

Tenzo smiled and turned back to his side. If Kakashi wanted to warm up, he wasn't going to complain. Perhaps it should bother him, but he didn't mind it one bit. Kakashi may be interested in men, but Tenzo knew that the jonin wouldn't do anything he didn't want him to. Plus, Tenzo had found that he liked the contact. He felt warm inside as Kakashi huddled up against him, like he was loved, like somebody cared about him. 

In the foundation, Tenzo had received no physical contact whatsoever. And before that, the only contact he received was followed closely with pain. The first few times he was hugged, or woke up with Kakashi leaning on him, he panicked. After a while, the simple tenderness he was shown became a reassurance that he was still a human being, not just some robot molded by Root.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 13 feels pretty damn short so I'm gonna go ahead and post 14 as well. I've started slowing down on this involuntarily, but hopefully I can bring this story to a close nicely


	14. Scheming Teenagers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An awkward experience at Anbu headquarters has the boys scheming. The plan only solidifies feeling they have towards each other

Tenzo woke up the next morning with Kakashi poking him in the shoulder. He grunted, swatting at the other teen to leave him alone. 

"Come on Tenzo. I'm bored. Let's go train or something." Kakashi said as he dramatically threw himself back on the bed. 

Tenzo rolled over to face his living alarm clock, rubbing his eyes before glaring at him. 

"Fine. But no jutsu. Taijutsu only." He mumbled. 

"Maa, Tenzo you worry too much. Plus, if we spar with taijutsu, you KNOW who's going to show up." Kakashi complained loudly, far too loud for this early in the morning. 

"If you're so worried about Gai showing up, we can train on the Anbu fields." He responded, annoyance seeping into his tone. 

"Alright. Hurry up! Let's go!" Kakashi shouted excitedly as he rushed out of the room.

Tenzo groaned and rolled out of bed.

~

Tenzo and Kakashi had sparred for an hour out in the Anbu fields before calling it quits for the day. They were sweaty and exhausted, and Kakashi was just a little grumpy from being beaten. They retreated into the locker rooms to change into some fresh clothes, making their way all the way to the back. Kakashi liked the locker right next to the showers, so he could get away with being mask-less occasionally. 

"You should have let me use the sharingan. You might as well have cut off my arm!" Kakashi whined.

"Shut it. We said no jutsu… and the sharingan uses too much chakra for you right now." Tenzo scolded. His fight with kakashi had worn him out immensely, and he sat down on the bench near their stuff. 

The door was on the other side of a wall of lockers, and as it swung open Tenzo found himself automatically concealing his chakra. He chuckled inwardly as he felt Kakashi do the same. He wondered what weird habits they would have as retired ninja. Would they still be checking behind doors or feeling for foreign chakra when they went somewhere new? Would they be hiding their chakra while shopping at the supermarket? He didn't know. He closed his eyes and reached out with his senses. Four Anbu had walked in, and had stopped by the first set of lockers. He signaled 'four' to Kakashi, and started making the signs for who the chakra belonged to. He could tell most who most of the ninja in Anbu were just by their chakra. He signaled out four names; Eagle, Bear, Fox, and Rabbit. Kakashi nodded as he continued changing, and they listened for any approaching footsteps. What they heard instead, stopped them in their tracks. 

"Did you see Hatake and Tenzo out there sparring?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Why weren't they using jutsu?"

"You didn't hear? They totally got fucked up on their last mission. They were probably just taking it easy."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. But I was working patrol at the time. I saw Cat carrying Hound on his back into the gates. Dude looked half dead."

"I heard he passed out. And that he woke up halfway to the hospital freaking out, screaming at them about taking Hound from him."

Tenzo looked at Kakashi, who had been staring at him intently. He merely shrugged, because he honestly didn't remember waking up again until he was already in the hospital. That would explain why his throat was so raw when he woke up.

"Well I'm guessing that it's because they're totally having sex."

Tenzo turned to Kakashi again slowly, and saw that the jonin's face had gone bright red, and his eyes were widened in shock.

"What makes you say that?"

"Come on. You've seen them. They are practically attached at the hip, they sleep like two inches away from each other on missions, AND I've heard Kakashi threaten anyone who speaks ill of his 'friend'."

"What do they say about him? He's always just seemed professional to me."

"Well that's because he was Root. I sparred with the kid his first day here. Kid was a freak. No emotions at all."

A low rumble escaped Kakashi's throat. Tenzo stared at him, an amused grin spreading across his face. Did Kakashi just… growl? He was becoming more like the ninken every day. 

"Well I've seen them staring at each other all the time. It's like they're communicating with their minds or some shit." 

"I always see Kakashi staring at Tenzo when he's not looking. They have to be sleeping together. You can't be THAT close without fucking."

Tenzo had heard enough. He stood to leave, and Kakashi was right next to him. They schooled their emotions as they rounded the corner, Tenzo carrying the bag of their soiled clothes. He didn't spare a glance at the pack of gossips as they walked by, but he could feel the fear spiking in their chakra. 

As soon as they left Anbu headquarters, Tenzo let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding in. They made the trip home silently, both of them lost in their own thoughts at the conversation they had just heard. 

Tenzo went to his room, changed back into pajama pants, and crawled into bed. Technically, he was still injured, and that was the perfect excuse to be lazy. After a couple of minutes, he felt the bed shift as Kakashi laid down too. 

"Soooo… everyone at work thinks we're creepy?" Kakashi asked out loud.

"Not just that. Don't forget, we are also humping." Tenzo mumbled into his pillow. 

"So what do we do?" Kakashi asked timidly.

Tenzo rolled his head to the side, watching as Kakashi fiddled with his fingernails. It was unusual for something to bother Kakashi this much. The brunette wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that Kakashi was still in the closet. "I don't know that there really is anything we can do. Even if we tell them it's not true, they won't believe us." He spoke softly. 

"We should still try." Kakashi mumbled, still playing with his fingers. 

Tenzo smirked, "Does it bother you that much that people think I'm railing you?" He knew the bluntness of the statement would get Kakashi's attention.

The jonin turned his head quickly, eyes narrowing to glare at Tenzo as a mischievous grin formed.

"And just WHAT makes you think you are the top? I could be the top, you know." 

Tenzo knew what Kakashi's game was. He was trying to make him uncomfortable on purpose. He wasn't going to let him win this time. He propped himself up on his elbow and stared the other teen down. "Come on, Kakashi. We both know I'm the top in this relationship. Nobody would second-guess the fact that the rule-worshipping captain enjoyed being dominated in the sack." He stated calmly. 

Kakashi's eyes widened. He clearly hadn't expected Tenzo to play along. 

"Maa, Tenzo. You're no fun. You weren't supposed to go along with it." Kakashi pouted. 

"I know." Tenzo thought for a moment. "Do you think Kurenai and Asuma have heard it?"

"Not a chance. If they did, Gai would be following us around screaming about 'youthful love'." Kakashi answered. 

Tenzo laughed loudly. Of course Gai would do exactly that, without a doubt. Kakashi giggled at the thought as well before speaking again. "I wonder how long it would be before one of the Anbu guys went to ask them about us."

Tenzo could practically see the gears turning in his head. Kakashi's eye stared down at the mattress, slightly narrowed. He was scheming. Tenzo knew the look well. They had caused quite a bit of mischief in the past when the silver-haired jonin had this look, and curiosity was getting the better of him.

"What are you thinking of doing?" He asked cautiously.

Kakashi met his gaze and smiled. "You know me too well, Tenzo."

"Yeah I know. That's why everyone thinks we're having sex." Tenzo said, rolling his eyes. "Now what's the plan."

"I was thinking that maybe just around the Anbu we just act a little… different. Just some little things that get them curious without actually confirming a relationship, or lack thereof." He said plainly, knowing full well that Tenzo always went along with his plans. "I wanna see how long it takes them to ask our friends about it." He said with a smile. 

Tenzo glared at him. "You're gonna make me call you by your name at work, aren't you."

Kakashi let out a full body laugh, shaking the bed. "OF COURSE that's what you're worried about!"

~

The next few days at work were interesting. They didn't have another mission yet, but the boys still had to report to work every day and put in some training time. Instead of just walking away, whenever Kakashi moved, he reached out to touch Tenzo's arm as the signal to go too. If Tenzo left the lunch table first, he would give Kakashi's shoulder a quick squeeze as he went past. It was subtle, but it was working. 

Then, they were on their way back from a mission in the land of wind with a woman named Kaguri. They had returned into fire county earlier in the day and set up camp for the night. Tenzo was eating his soup peacefully and listening to the woman talk about her last mission, when he felt Kakashi's chakra move. He looked over and Kakashi's fingers lifted and swiped some soup off of the side of his mouth. Tenzo froze, forgetting about their plan as Kakashi put the fingers into his own mouth under the mask. He calmed himself from the sudden contact, looking back to the woman across from them as he realized she had stopped talking. 

Well, that was one way to do it, he thought as the woman stared at them, eyes wide. Tenzo continued to eat his soup as if nothing had happened. 

Later, they were all chatting around the fire when Kakashi started scratching his scalp, probably the itchy result from sleeping on the ground. 

"Kakashi, do you have fleas?" He said with a laugh, proud of once again comparing Kakashi to a dog. He was answered with a grunt, and a playful slap on his shoulder before his captain went to wash his hair out in the nearby stream. 

"Did… you just make a 'dog' joke to our captain?" The woman asked with a smile on her face. 

He shrugged his shoulders and laughed. Happy that their plan was working seamlessly. 

Honestly, he would be a little sad when all this was over. It had only been three days since all of this had started, but he was enjoying the little touches and teasing Kakashi had been sending his way. He was starting to think that maybe his feelings were a little more than what he had previously believed. It was all so easy to him, the touching and pretending, and it made him happy. 

There was a loud splash from behind them, and a minute later Kakashi returned to camp, soaked to the bone. 

"I uh… dropped my mask, and fell in trying to get it out of the water." Kakashi said, practically pouting at his wet mishap. "Do you have my extra clothes?" He asked Tenzo.

Tenzo actually did have a spare set of clothes for him, but he hadn't really thought anything strange about it until he was being asked in front of the other Anbu. He pulled out the scroll, shoulders tense. He summoned the clothes, and motioned back to the bushes. "Come on." He said, before pulling Kakashi out of the woman's sight to change. 

When they were alone, Tenzo relaxed again. 

"Did you do this on purpose?" He asked, watching as Kakashi struggled to pull his soaked shirt up over his head. He sighed, and reached out to pull the pale arm out of the sleeve it was caught in, freeing his captain from the wet garment. 

"Well I dropped my mask in on purpose… but I really didn't mean to fall in the rest of the way." Kakashi spoke softly, his shaking hands working on getting his pants off. 

"Kakashi… you're already freezing. You're lucky we are already on our way home. MAYBE you won't catch pneumonia." Tenzo scolded, before dipping down to help Kakashi take off his sandals. Kakashi's skin was tinted pink, and Tenzo was starting to worry. The taller man barely managed to get the rest of his clothes off without his pale legs giving out. Tenzo moved quickly. He handed the man a towel to dry off, and worked on getting Kakashi into dry clothes. The man was shivering by the time he was fully dressed, and Tenzo dragged him back to warm up by the fire. 

Kaguri watched them return, concern showing in her eyes as she looked at their shivering captain, whose skin was now tinted slightly blue. Tenzo sat him by the fire, and moved to sit with him. He pulled Kakashi into his side, rubbing his back and shoulders to warm him up. The cold teenager curled up into Tenzo's warmth like a child. 

Tenzo felt Kaguri staring at them. If she hadn't thought they were dating before… she certainly would now. Even though this hadn't been part of the plan, it worked in their favor. 

~

Aside from becoming hypothermic, Kakashi was happy with how his plan had been shaping up. Not only did he continuously get to touch Tenzo intimately, but he was starting to get the feeling Tenzo enjoyed it too. Whenever his skin touched Tenzo's, he felt warm inside. Like Tenzo was the sun itself, and the brief contact they shared instantly transmitted happiness and love. He couldn't deny his feelings, even in his head, and he couldn't help but wonder how heartbroken he would be once it was all over. 

Kakashi laid in his sleeping bag, shivering. He was still very cold from his dip in the stream earlier, and mentally scolded himself for his clumsiness. He couldn't stay too mad at himself though, because Tenzo had practically cuddled him earlier by the fire to warm him up, not to mention helped him change out of his wet clothes. Kakashi's thoughts flew out of his mind as he felt Tenzo's familiar heat climbing into his sleeping bag next to him. They shared a bed at home, but he never imagined Tenzo being willing to share a sleeping bag. 

He looked at his kohai, a question in his eyes. 

"I refuse to let you get hypothermia, Senpai." He stated before turning around to face the other direction. Kakashi followed his lead, turning around and pushing his back up against Tenzo's. Warmth spread through his body quickly, and it wasn't long before his shivering finally stopped. His body ached from being cold for so long, and he was grateful Tenzo hadn't left him to freeze the entire night. He drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just about caught up to myself now. I've got one more chapter written so far that I will probably post tonight after midnight while I'm at work, so my posting will slow down now finally


	15. The Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bad mission forces Kakashi and Tenzo to confront their feelings.

Their plan had worked. It took only one day after Kakashi's "water incident" for Kurenai and Asuma to ask them out for lunch. They had finally finished explaining the whole situation to them when Tenzo's shoulders stiffened up intensely and he made a move to leave. Kakashi had barely got a word out before his question was answered.

"RIVAL! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'VE BEATEN ME AGAIN!" 

Gai ran up from the side, wrapping Tenzo up into a hug before he could escape, and dragging Kakashi in with him. 

"Youthful love is in full bloom!" Gai boomed out into the street, swinging his arms around, both boys still struggling to escape his hold. Kakashi was the first to break free, turning and running down the street before he felt the mokuton wrap around one of his legs. 

"Nice try! You are NOT ditching me with this." Tenzo scolded.

"You tried ditching me first!" Kakashi whined in return. 

Kurenei and Asuma laughed at them from their seats at the ramen stand, until Gai started yelling again. 

"I'm so glad you two have confessed your feelings! We have known you two were perfect for each other for SO long!" He bellowed. 

Okay, now Kakashi was confused. They needed to get this conversation on track quickly before Gai made things really awkward. 

"Gai! It's not like that! We were just pulling a prank. We aren't in that kind of relationship."

Gai stood still for a few moments, a rarity that Kakashi wasn't sure he had ever seen before this moment. Even more rare, the next thing he said was in a perfectly normal speaking voice. 

"Kakashi. Tenzo." He spoke softly, moving both of them into his view. "Eventually you will have to face your feelings and accept your fate." 

And just like that, Gai was gone. Kakashi turned his view back to the ramen stand, seeing only leaves where the laughing couple had been. What the hell was that? Did Gai know about his feelings for Tenzo? How could he when Kakashi was barely willing to admit it to himself. He looked over to his kohai, who had also been lost in thought, and placed a hand on the back of his neck nervously. 

"Well I honestly expected a lot more yelling from that." Kakashi said with a chuckle. 

Tenzo laughed lightly. Kakashi could tell that the whole situation had bothered him, but he decided that was enough for the day. The two boys decided to go home and deal with it some other time. 

~

Tenzo and Kakashi had ran as fast as they could. Their mission was long and difficult. The whole week, they had been getting attacked. They were exhausted. Help was on the way, but they wouldn't be there in time. An earth style user was chasing them through the forest. His main jutsu also fed off of chakra, and both boys were running severely low. They kept running, right up until the earth user dropped them into a small rock cave. It was dark, and Kakashi's leg was killing him. The behemoth enemy on the surface dropped a giant rock over the entrance, knowing neither had enough chakra to break out. 

He had left them there to die. If their back-up didn't include a sensory-type, he might succeed. The hole they were in was small, maybe as big around as a larger bathtub, and Kakashi couldn't keep his legs from hitting Tenzo's as they sat on opposite walls from each other. A small amount of light filtered through the top, which Kakashi was thankful for. He couldn't exactly use the sharingan in this condition. 

"You're out of chakra, aren't you?" Tenzo asked quietly from the other end. 

"Yup. I can probably use my sharingan for ten seconds before I go comatose, if that helps." Kakashi answered with a shrug. 

"No. SHOCKINGLY that doesn't help." Tenzo said sarcastically. "What do we do?"

"Well, we hope that our help gets here soon. We've never sent for backup before, so hopefully Minato takes it super seriously and sends someone good." Kakashi replied.

"If I save up my chakra, I can probably send a signal if I sense someone close enough… I don't know if they will find us otherwise." Tenzo announced. 

"Minato will hopefully send an Inuzuka, and we can just avoid that." The jonin replied. 

The two teenagers sat in silence for quite a while, taking turns dozing off for a while until the daylight started to fade away into the freezing night. 

Kakashi jumped out of his light sleep as he felt Tenzo's hand bump into his leg. "Move over Senpai. I can already tell you're getting cold."

Kakashi shifted over as Tenzo crowded into his end of the cavern. "You don't have to make excuses if you wanna cuddle, Tenzo." 

He grunted as Tenzo punched him in the side. "Maa, Tenzo, I think that's domestic abuse." 

Tenzo sighed dramatically, reaching out to place an arm around Kakashi's shoulders. 

The night was already half over. The moon peered in through the tiny slit in their rock cage as it passed through the sky. Kakashi was starting to doubt that their call for help had been received. He wondered if he and Tenzo were going to really die here, trapped in a tiny hole together. If they had any food, he could have built up enough chakra to break through the top. Unfortunately, their supply of food pills ran out two days ago. They weren't adequately prepared for this mission. 

Kakashi's thoughts drifted in another direction. If he died here, would he finally break down and tell Tenzo how he felt? Probably not. He was nothing if not stubborn. 

"Do you think we're gonna die here?" Tenzo asked out into the darkness. 

Kakashi looked over to his left. In the moonlight, he could see Tenzo staring back at him. He took a deep breath, feeling there was no use in lying to his kohai. "It's certainly looking like it."

"Maybe we should talk about what Gai said." Tenzo said quietly. If they hadn't been practically sitting on each other, Kakashi wouldn't have heard it. His breath caught in his lungs. If Tenzo hadn't felt the same way, why would he want to bring that up? He waited to let Tenzo speak first. He didn't want to embarrass himself, after all. 

"I uh… well… Gai might have been right. At Least for me." Tenzo said sheepishly. 

Kakashi's face warmed as undoubtedly a giant blush was crossing his face. He pulled his mask down, suddenly finding it hard to breath as he thought over Tenzo's words. Tenzo… liked him? He could feel Tenzo squirming uncomfortably. Understandable, seeing as how he had confessed his feelings and Kakashi was just sitting here dumbstruck. 

Kakashi turned to meet Tenzo's nervous gaze, still contemplating how to answer. Well, he thought, actions speak louder than words. 

He leaned over into Tenzo's personal space and placed a soft kiss on the side of Tenzo's mouth. He pulled away and looked down at his hands quickly as his entire face erupted into another blush. Tenzo laughed lightly. "Is that your way of saying he was right, Kakashi?"

Kakashi looked at him and smiled. Tenzo looked gorgeous in the moonlight, and he felt a weight removed from his shoulders as he had finally confessed his feelings, at least in the only way he could manage. His smile faltered, remembering they were trapped in a hole and might not ever make it out. "I guess none of this matters if we die here." He spoke quietly, disappointment seeping into his voice. 

"Kakashi, I swear. If you start talking about 'not dying a virgin', I'm going to hit you." Tenzo said with a giggle. 

"Maa, Tenzo I wasn't going to go there! But you know… neither of us have even had a real kiss before…" Kakashi said, wiggling his eyebrows up and down for effect. Tenzo laughed loudly, the beautiful noise echoing off the walls of what may end up being their tomb. Kakashi had always enjoyed his laugh. It was one of his favorite noises in the world.

"I guess I can't hit you for saying that one." Tenzo spoke, a giant grin on his face. "I think you've read too much Icha-Icha though." 

"If we make it out of here, I promise you will be thanking me for reading so much of it." Kakashi quipped. 

"Pervert." Was Tenzo's only reply before he crawled around to sit between Kakashi's legs. The silver-haired man instinctively placed his hands on Tenzo's knees. His breath hitched as Tenzo lunged forward, clasping his bare face in his strong hands and pressing their mouths together forcefully. The shorter boy pulled away abruptly, and even in the moonlight Kakashi could see Tenzo's face burning red like a tomato. Once the initial shock wore off, he couldn't help the giggle that escaped his throat at how adorable Tenzo's embarrassment was. He pulled his legs up under himself and used the momentum to tackle the other boy to the floor. A small 'oof' was the only noise Tenzo made. 

He straddled tan legs quickly before shooting his face down to claim Tenzo's lips again. Tongues fought for dominance as the two teenagers were reduced to a moaning, hormonal mess on the floor of the cave. Kakashi couldn't keep his hands still. His nimble fingers were under Tenzo's shirt, tracing over toned muscles and smooth skin. Tenzo moved one arm under the back of his shirt, and the other clutching soft silver hair. Kakashi lost himself in the moment, breaking the kiss off to trail down Tenzo's strong jawline, to the tender skin of his neck. He bites down, plunging long canines into the skin before licking away the pain. Tenzo cried out, involuntarily bucking his hips up into Kakashi's. A throaty moan ripped it's way from the jonin's throat.

"Kakashi? Tenzo?"

Both boys freeze, listening to the sounds from the surface up above as the rock covering is swiftly removed. Kakashi jumps up quickly, pulling a frozen Tenzo up into a standing position. 

"Boys?" Are you down there?"

Kakashi recognized the voice easily. 

"Minato?" He answered timidly, thoroughly embarrassed at the situation they've undoubtedly been caught in. 

Finally, blonde hair peeked over the entrance to the cave, a giant smile gracing his features. 

A wave of relief washes over Kakashi as the realization hits him; they are going to make it home after all. 

"Can you make the jump?" The Hokage asks.

"I think so." Tenzo replied quickly, motioning for his captain to go first. Kakashi makes the jump shockingly easy, hearing Tenzo drop down next to him on the surface. The tiny amount of chakra he used for the jump, combined with the overwhelming sensation of being back out of the cave are too much for his worn out body to handle, and Kakashi once again finds himself collapsing to the ground. His vision goes black, and all he can hear before passing out is the sound of Tenzo crashing down into the dirt next to him with a heavy thump.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well this is it. I've decided it's time to reel this in. Lots of fluff, as per usual.

Kakashi was getting real tired of waking up in the hospital. The only plus side was that when he woke up, Tenzo was there holding his hand. He looked over and shared a smile with the brunette, happy to finally be able to share his feelings. 

The door to the room opened as Minato entered, pushing Kushina in a wheelchair. In her arms was a small bundle of blankets cradled to her chest. 

"Kakashi, Tenzo, I'd like to introduce you to Naruto." Minato spoke proudly. Kushina unwrapped the baby in her arms to show them. He was tiny, with giant blue eyes and a patch of bright yellow hair. He was the spitting image of Minato, and Kakashi couldn't help but smile. 

"Sorry it took so long for us to find you, but your messenger bird was killed. We were just lucky a wandering patrol found the message on the ground in time." Minato spoke calmly. 

"That is pretty lucky." Tenzo said, eyes trained on little Naruto. 

"Well… uh… there is something we need to talk about." Minato said nervously, playing with his fingers. "You see… uh…"

Kushina interrupted him loudly. "We saw the bite mark and the giant hickey on Tenzo's neck. Are you guys together or just messing around?" 

All three men were silent for a moment, shocked once again by Kushina and her bluntness. Tenzo flung an arm up to instinctively cover up the bite mark, his face going redder than Kakashi had ever seen it. 

The boys looked at each other. They hadn't really had a chance to talk about any of that, and didn't have an answer to the question. As if sensing this, Minato finally found the words to speak. 

"Look, it's none of our business either way. As far as we are concerned, both of you might as well be adults. We just want you to know that whatever you decide, we support your decision." He spoke seriously.

"Yeah, whatever you decide is fine, but I hope you guys get together. You boys are so cute together!" Kushina blurted out.

Kakashi groaned and covered his face with his free hand. This was all a little too much after having just woken up. 

"Kushina, let's give these two a few minutes to talk." Minato said, wheeling Kushina out the door before she could protest. 

Kakashi sighed before looking over to Tenzo. They finally had a moment to discuss what happened earlier, and he was more nervous than ever. Tenzo had the same problem, as Kakashi couldn't seem to get the other man to make eye-contact with him. He started to worry. Maybe Tenzo hadn't really wanted any of that, or maybe he only did because he thought they were going to die. Would Tenzo say no to Kakashi if he hadn't wanted to do that? Maybe not. Kakashi's mind flew through the images of last night, complete with Kakashi tackling Tenzo to the ground. Did he force Tenzo to do that? His stomach churned as he thought about what he had done. He released Tenzo's hand before finally opening his mouth to speak. 

"Tenzo I… I'm sorry if you didn't want any of that. I didn't mean to force you into it." Kakashi spoke, his heart thumping through his chest and tears welling in his eyes.

Tenzo finally looked up at him, concern written on his face. He reached out and pulled Kakashi's hands into his. "I wanted all of that, Kakashi. I wanted more, actually. But Minato has some very inopportune timing."

Kakashi smiled. "Really?"

Tenzo laughed. "Of course you dummy. I'm in love with you!" 

"I love you too." Kakashi spoke before launching himself off the bed into Tenzo's lap, throwing his arms over the familiar broad shoulders. Tenzo would catch him, of course. Tenzo was always there to catch him. His heart swelled with happiness as he clung to his best friend. 

As if they had sent out some sort of beacon, Minato once again had the worst timing humanly possible as he wheeled Kushina back in. The sound she made could only be described as a girly shriek when she took in the sight of the boys together next to the hospital bed. The only saving grace at the moment was that poor little Naruto woke up and distracted the excited woman for a few minutes. 

Minato crossed the room to speak with them in private. "Look." He spoke quietly. "I'm not going to give you 'the talk'. But I'm going to tell Kushina I did, so please don't make me." 

Both boys giggled at the older man's embarrassment, and nodded their agreement. 

"In either case, I'm very happy for you two. But… and I need you to think about this before you answer me. Are you going to be able to continue working on the same team? If you tell me you can, I'll believe you. But this is important." He spoke sternly.

Kakashi and Tenzo looked at each other again, and Kakashi decided to take the lead. "Uh… well to be honest, I've had feelings for Tenzo for quite a while now, and we've been working just fine." 

Minato looked to Tenzo to get his side of the story. 

"Ah well, I can't say my side of this is any different than his." He said nervously, his entire face erupting into a blush. 

"Alright. I won't move you to different teams." He spoke before shifting to move. He stopped, and turned to face them one last time. "Uh… by the way… I didn't tell Kushina what was happening when I found you two." He spoke quietly, red coloring moving up his face. "And also I'm pretty sure my Anbu squad didn't see anything… so let's never talk about this again, okay?"

Both boys nodded their obvious agreement to that. Kakashi had hoped that maybe Minato hadn't seen them down in the cave, but it was far too late for that now. As Minato walked away, the two boys shared a look of sheer embarrassment at the conversation they just had. 

Since their injuries were minor, Kakashi and Tenzo were allowed to leave the hospital as soon as they wanted. They decided to go celebrate at Ichiraku's. As they walked up, they could see Gai sitting at one of the stools watching them walk up. Kakashi decided to throw his friend a bone, and slowly intertwined his fingers with Tenzo's as they approached. Gai's eyes widened in excitement.

"Why in the world would you ever do that on purpose?" Tenzo whispered.

Kakashi didn't answer. He just looked over at his new boyfriend and winked. Tenzo rolled his eyes and smiled, but didn't pull his hand away. 

Surprisingly, Gai didn't yell. He waited until they walked up together and gave Kakashi a congratulatory squeeze to the shoulder. 

"Does anyone know yet?" The green giant asked quietly. 

"Just you and the parents." Kakashi said with a smile. 

"You told your parents?" Gai questioned.

"Yes… involuntarily." Kakashi answered hesitantly.

"Oh so they saw that giant hickey?" Gai quipped.

Kakashi laughed loudly, looking to see Tenzo trying to hide his neck again, along with the bright red on his cheeks. Tenzo reached out with his free hand and punched Kakashi in the side. "Maa, Tenzo don't be so mean! It's not THAT bad." 

"It might not have been so bad if you weren't biting me like a damn dog." Tenzo joked, bumping shoulders with Kakashi playfully.

Gai leaned around Kakashi to get a better look at Tenzo's neck. "Kakashi, do you have fangs?" He asked, spotting the two telling puncture wounds in the middle of the bruise.  
Tenzo enjoyed his turn laughing as Kakashi refused to look either of them in the face.

"I won't tell anyone if you show me." Gai whispered, blackmailing the copy ninja.

Kakashi turned to glare at him, but quickly pulled down his mask, showing Gai his elongated canine teeth. Gai gawked, amazed at seeing Kakashi's face for the first time. He pulled his mask back up over his nose. "If you tell anyone that you saw my face, I'll kill you."

Eager to push past the subject and move the embarrassment over to Tenzo, Kakashi turned to his kohai. "Guess I'll have to put the next ones somewhere less visible." He said with a wink. Gai's eyes widened again, and Tenzo tried to sink even farther into his seat to hide. Kakashi laughed, satisfied that he had so many brand new ways to bring that beautiful blush to Tenzo's face.

By the end of their meal, Gai was back to his loud, boisterous self. Sometimes Kakashi wondered how he could still be friends with the man when he has such sensitive hearing.

The boys walked side by side leaving the ramen stand. "Tenzo?" Kakashi spoke softly.

Tenzo turned to look at him, giving him a sweet smile.

"Do you care if our relationship is a secret or not?" He asked the brunette.

"Are you asking if you can molest me in public?" Tenzo asked, a knowing smirk on his face.

Kakashi laughed, Tenzo always knew exactly what he was thinking. "Of course. It's okay if you don't want that, but you better tell me now."

"I don't care about that. I'm not afraid to tell people I'm in love with you." Tenzo said, grabbing his boyfriend's hand gently. 

Kakashi dramatically threw his free hand over his heart. "You kill me with such sweet words, Tenzo." 

Tenzo giggled lightly before Kakashi used their joined hands to pull Tenzo in for a long kiss, his maskless face blocked from the public view. Not worrying about walking in the middle of the street, Tenzo parted his lips slightly, giving Kakashi the invitation for the pda he was clearly interested in. Kakashi didn't waste any time. He pushed his tongue into Tenzo's mouth, savoring every taste he could get, and used his free hand to pull Tenzo flush against him. 

Tenzo pulled back at the sound of a throat clearing. Kakashi didn't need to look to know that Asuma and Kurenai were standing there gawking as he pulled his mask up before they could see anything.

Tenzo went bright red before turning back to face him. "You did that on purpose, didn't you." He spoke, eyes narrowing. 

Kakashi just shrugged with a smile, watching as Tenzo rolled his eyes. They turned to face their friends, Kakashi still holding his hand. 

"I thought you guys were faking?" Kurenai asked suspiciously.

"We were." Kakashi said simply, offering up his usual vague answer to their confused friend.

"But you aren't faking this time?" Asuma asked, one eyebrow lifted.

"Nope." Kakashi said, offering a crinkle-eyed smile and pulling Tenzo into his side. "What can I say, I love my cute little kohai." He shrugged again, looking over again to Tenzo, who was smiling back at him. "I love you too, Kakashi." 

Asuma mocked them with a gagging noise. "Yuck. Just try not to have sex in public, okay?" 

"I will make no such promises." Kakashi said, dodging Tenzo's free hand.

~

Tenzo's heart swelled as he and kakashi walked hand-in-hand to Minato and Kushina's house. Kakashi knocked on the door, and Minato opened it with a bright smile. "You don't have to knock, you know that." 

It was Christmas day, and the boys were spending it with their family. Tenzo followed Kakashi into the house, and waited for the inevitable. Like clockwork, Kushina ran from in the kitchen and pulled them both in for a giant hug. "Merry Christmas!" She yelled. When she released them, Kakashi made his way into the living room to find Naruto. The baby was barely over a year old, and the boys absolutely loved him. Kakashi ran over and swooped the giggling boy up off the floor. Tenzo loved watching Kakashi and Naruto together. The silver-haired jonin was the best brother anyone could ask for, and Tenzo had gotten to experience it firsthand. Tenzo walked over to the laughing duo, placing a kiss on both their foreheads before sitting on the couch together.

Naruto was giving a giggling Kakashi slobbery kisses on his bare face, and Tenzo realized he couldn't possibly be any happier than he was right here in this moment, with baby Naruto in his snowman footie pajamas on his boyfriend's lap, and both of the people he considered his parents snuggling on the couch across from them. This was where he had always belonged, with his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I'm terrible at writing endings. But, I do believe I could come back to this at another time and write a sequel where the boys are older and they take the fight to Orochimaru. I just wasn't ready to write that just yet, and I have several other story ideas swimming around in my head that require attention now. Thanks for sticking it out with me!


End file.
